For Every Frozen Heart
by AstoriaAliceMalfoy
Summary: Astoria, the invisible girl, who, in Draco's 6th year, proves to be more than just a Slytherin who's friends with llows Astoria and Draco, starting from Draco's 6th year to the war and possibly beyond. Draco/Astoria.
1. Invisible

**_AN:_ **So here is the story. A long Astoria/Draco story. It starts from Draco's 6th and Astoria's 5th year. Astoria isn't really someone you'd think Draco would date. At least not yet (at this point you propably think: What do you mean not yet and I answer: That's for me to know and for you to guess).

I know that some of you might not like Astoria in the beginning, but I promise, that soon enough we'll see exactly why she was sorted to the house she was sorted in. I will try to update weekly (If I get enough reviews).

Anyways, here it is. This first capter is like a preview of some sort...I hope you all like it.

Disclaimer: I own none of this.

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><p>Astoria was sitting in the library at Hogwarts. She was staring at a picture in her hands. It was a picture of her parents. They had been a beautiful couple. But that was all gone now. Astoria's mother was dead. She had been killed 5 years ago when she was 10.<p>

Her father on the other hand was alive and a Death Eater. Astoria loved her father but in some ways she blamed him for her mother's death. She thought that her father should've been more like...like mr. Weasley, for example. Ready to do anything to keep his family safe. Not that Astoria would ever let anyone know that. After all, the Weasleys were blood-traitors. And she was in Slytherin. But she was known to get along with Gryffindors pretty well.

Astoria sighed and got up. It was time to go to eat something.

She entered the Great Hall and looked around. She noticed that quite a few people were looking at her too. Some of the Slytherins were giving her pretty nasty glances (it was no secret that most Slytherins considered Astoria as a blood traitor) and some of the Gryffindors were actually smiling at her. Astoria, though, kept her face free of any emotion, a skill she had learned from her father. _I guess there are some good sides in being a pureblood_, Astoria thought to herself. All pureblood children were the same. They all knew how to hide their emotions.

At least most of them. Astoria glanced at Draco Malfoy who was staring at his plate. He looked like he hadn't eaten in days and wasn't about to start now. Astoria frowned lightly. She'd noticed Draco's strange behaviour. He rarely seemed to eat, or even speak. He just sat there, thinking. He didn't even sometimes bother to look up when someone talked to him. In other words, he looked almost sick.

Astoria sat down silently, as far away from other Slytherins as possible. She wasn't up to a fight. She knew it was rather useless to fight with them. They just didn't understand. She liked some Gryffindors because, well, because they had guts. They were brave. But somehow she had ended up in Slytherin. Although, Astoria was very glad she had ended up in Slytherin, if she hadn't , her father would've most likely disowned her, and that was not something she wanted.

Astoria ate her food in silence and after eating, went to her classes. The day went by like any normal one. None of the Slytherins really talked to her, but she still listened to every word they were saying. Astoria wasn't too surprised when she heard them talking about Draco Malfoy.

"Do you really think that's true?" Millicent Bullstrode asked.

"Yes. He practically said it himself. A Death Eater. But don't tell anyone. I don't want to upset Draco" Pansy Parkinson answered. Astoria snorted quietly. _'I don't want to upset Draco', how pathetic,_ she thought.

Astoria herself couldn't care less if Draco Malfoy was a Death Eater or not, but she was a little curious about why the Dark Lord wold want someone like Malfoy? Why would a wizard as powerful as him need someone inside Hogwarts? Because no matter how it seemed to everyone else, Astoria wasn't stupid. In fact she was very clever. She knew that the Dark Lord was to be respected. Even though she didn't believe in the whole pureblood system, she had been taught to respect the Dark Lord and Death Eaters. No matter how hard she tried, Astoria couldn't bring herself to hate all of them. After all, hating them would mean hating her own father.

Of course no one noticed her listening. She was practically invisible.

Even on her way to the Slytherin common room, no one talked to her. It didn't bother her though. When she wanted to become visible, she'd say something, but right now invisibility worked right for her.

She needed time to think. Astoria was trying to decide something. She wanted to know if the things Pansy and Millicent had said were true. And there was only one thing she could do to find out. Send a letter to her father.

_And that's what I'm going to do,_ she thought.

As soon as she got to the common room and from there to the girls' dormitories, she found a piece of paper and a quill. She wrote down:

_Dear father,_

_I heard something in today. Something that made me curious. I heard Pansy (you know that pathetic Parkinson girl) and Millicent talk about Draco Malfoy. They said that he was a Death Eater. I don't want to make a fool of myself but I must know: is this true? Please answer as quick as you can and don't show this letter to anyone._

_With respect and love,_

_Astoria G._

Astoria looked at the letter for a moment. She read over the part where she mentioned Parkinson and smiled. It seemed that she was in the right house after all. Astoria didn't like the way that all of her letters sounded so formal. But they had to, because once again, it was something she'd been taught.

Old habits die hard, wasn't that somthing that muggles said? Well, it was true, at least in Astoria's case.

It took almost five hours for her father's response to arrive. Way after curfew, Astoria was wondering around the lands of Hogwarts. She wasn't really that afraid of someone finding her. Then suddenly she saw her own owl come towards her. It dropped the letter straight to Astoria's waiting hands. Astoria hurried inside (again without anyone noticing) and went to the common room and sat onto a couch. She opened the letter.

_Astoria, I do not know if the young Malfoy boy has been made a Death Eater. It would seem rather odd, taking the fact that his father is in Azkaban and the Dark Lord is very disappointed in the Malfoys. But then again, you know what the young boy is like. It would come as no surprise if he was a Death Eater. And if he is not, I'm sure that it is only a matter of time._

How very smart, Astoria thought. Her father didn't deny it but he didn't confirm it either. How very typical. A very political answer.

Astoria went to take the letter in to her dormitory and took a book. She saw that the other girls were still awake and went back to the common room to read.

She didn't know how long she sat there, but soon she heard steps, but then they suddenly stopped. She looked up from her book, to find Draco Malfoy staring at her with rather angry eyes. It didn't take long for Astoria's emotions to get control of her. The last thing she tought about before opening her mouth was: This is going to become a fight.

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><p><strong>REVIEW! REVIEW! The next chapter will be in Draco's point of view (sort of), and we'll see what 'Astoria's emotions taking control' actually means. I hope you all liked it. <strong>


	2. Common Room

**_A.N: _ **Thank you for everyone who reviewed. It's really nice to know that someone likes my work.

But, back to the topic. This is the second chapter of this story and it's all Draco/Astoria. I wasn't really comfortable writing this, so I don't blame you if you think it sucks. It just had to be there, because of the events that will take place in the next chapter. REMEMBER TO REVIEW! (Yes, I just almost begged)

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter or any of the other characters.

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><p>Draco was staring at the Vanishing Cabinet in front of him. He didn't know what to do anymore. It seemed as if nothing would work, no way to fix it. He didn't have that much time left anymore. And after his last attempt to kill Dumbledore had gone horribly wrong, he wasn't sure if he could do it. Not that he minded the fact that Gryffindor Katie Bell had been cursed, but still. He had to do something. He didn't want to die. Of course there was always the bottle but he couldn't be sure if Slughorn would give it to Dumbledore.<p>

Draco walked into the Slytherin common room. It was way past midnight and he'd gone through a great deal of trouble to come back without anyone noticing him. The common room was empty except for one person. A fifth year girl. Draco just stared at the girl for a while. He couldn't remember who she was. He was sure that he'd heard her name somewhere before but he couldn't remember where and what it was.

"What are you looking at?" the girl suddenly asked. Draco didn't need to see the person properly to know that she looked angry.

"I'm allowed to look around the common room. Especially when there's someone there. It's none of your business", Draco hissed just loud enough for the girl to hear. The girl got up from the couch she was sitting on and walked to him.

"What's your problem Malfoy? Sad 'cause daddy's in Azkaban?" she asked. This got Draco even angrier. Who was this girl and why did she think that she could talk to him like that? He was dangerous. The girl ought to have known that. There had been talk among the Slytherins that Draco had gotten a Dark Mark but no one was sure. And Draco was almost sure that the girl had heard these rumours.

"Who are you?" Draco asked, avoiding the girl's question.

"You don't need to know that", replied the girl. She tried to turn around and leave but Draco grabbed her arm and pulled her back so that she was facing him.

"Let's try again. Who are you?" he asked. The girl looked at him for a moment before saying: "Astoria Greengrass"

Suddenly Draco remembered who this girl was. She was, indeed, Astoria Greengrass, the only Slytherin girl who was known to have friends in Gryffindor house. Some rumored that she was even friends with blood-traitor scum like Ginny Weasley. Well, that just made Astoria look worse in his eyes. No people like her should be allowed in Slytherin. She was probably even friends with some mudbloods. It didn't matter to Draco that Astoria came from one of the purest bloodlines. Almost as pure as the Malfoys. In his eyes, instead of being someone to respect as an equal, Draco saw Astoria as someone to be ashamed of.

Astoria was rather frightened. Not that she'd ever let that show. Draco was holding her arm so tightly that there would probably be a bruise or two on it the next morning. Right now though, Malfoy seemed frozen in front of her. He just stood there, staring at her. His expression had gone completely blank after she'd told her his name. _'He's probably heard of me',_ Astoria thought. Almost every Slytherin tried to avoid her and she knew that they sometimes talked about her behind her back.

"Let go of me," Astoria said firmly. This seemed to bring Malfoy back to reality, but he still didn't let go of her arm. "Let go of me", she repeated. Finally, he let go.

"Don't worry. I won't lay a hand on you again. You filthy blood-traitor", Draco hissed. Astoria laughed at him. She actually laughed at him!

"Do you think I care about what you think of me?" she asked. They just stared at each other for a moment. Nothing in the room moved. They both wanted to get away from each other but there seemed to be some silent battle going on between them. They knew that the one who'd leave, would lose. What they'd lose, was a question that hadn't been answered yet.

"I do think you care," Draco suddenly said. Astoria stared at him in disbelief.

"Excuse me?" She asked. What on earth was Malfoy talking about? He must've lost his mind somewhere between losing his dad and getting beaten up by Potter.

"I do think you care. You care what everyone thinks of you. That's why you're friends with mudloods and their sort. Because you want people to know that you're different, even though you're really not", Draco said. Astoria was still staring. Was he accusing her of some sort of lying?

"I don't know what's wrong with you. I don't know if you've been beaten up by Gryffindors too many times or if you've just simply gone mental, but none of that's true. And don't use the word mudblood. It's offensive", Astoria said.

"I use the exact words I want to use. And don't pretend that you know something about me. Don't pretend that you know me at all, you'll just end up making a fool out of yourself", hissed Draco. Astoria crossed her hands across her chest.

"Oh really?" she said, "I don't know anything about you? Let's see. I know that you think you're better than everyone, I know that you adore Death Eaters..." then Astoria suddenly stopped. She took a step closer to Draco, stood on the tips of her toes and whispered into his ear: "And I know that you are a Death Eater."

Draco looked at Astoria in disbelief. Was this how it would all end? Was his task going to be ruined by some fifthyear? No. But Draco couldn't help himself from wondering how this girl was able to stand there, unafraid, if she truly knew that he was a Death Eater.

"Aren't you afraid?" Draco asked. There was a slight hint of amusement in his voice and Astoria heard it very well.

"No, not really. I've met lots of Death Eaters. They're not all so bad," she said. Draco felt his eyes widen so much that they were starting to hurt.

"You're the worst blood-traitor I've ever met. You have no idea which side you're on, do you?" he said. She really was the worst blood-traitor he'd ever met. She hanged out with Gryffindors and then she said that she knew Death Eaters and that they weren't really that bad.

"Well, I admit that I might get things confused every now and then. But I don't really think that you're a bad person," Astoria said. Draco looked at her. Was she joking?

"Interesting," was all that Draco could say.

"I'm an interesting person," Astoria said. Draco nodded.

"Obviously," he whispered as he took a step closer to her.

"But I won't be an interesting person if I sleep during lessons so I'm going to sleep," Astoria said and walked to the girls' dormitories. Draco was just left there, standing on his own. His charm had not worked on the girl. Not worked. It was the first time it hadn't worked. It always worked on Pansy and her sort. But maybe that was it, Draco thought, maybe it's because Pansy and her sort were just simply so daft. But this girl wasn't. This girl was interesting. One of the most interesting girls he'd ever met.

But Draco had other things to think about than the fact that Astoria was interesting. Astoria had said that she knew Draco was a Death Eater and he couldn't have that. It was a risk to his whole mission. She was a risk. And he needed to find out exactly how to silence Astoria. Whatever it took. He needed to make her keep her pretty mouth shut. Not that he thought her mouth was pretty, no. He hadn't even looked. Or at least that's what he tried to tell himself.

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><p><em><strong>Thank you for reading.<strong>_


	3. Watch Out For Yourself

_**A.N: **_In this chapter, it's the morning after of Astoria and Draco's fight. I thought it would be a good time to introduce some characters (like Theodore Nott) who will (at some point) prove to have a big role. I also wanted to point out that not the whole year is centered around Astoria and Draco but there will be more Slytherin romances to come (that'll be fun to write). And I also wanted to show that Draco does have some sort of friendships too. But in fear that I will spill too much information...here's the chapter. Hope you like it.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing...

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><p>The next day at breakfast, Draco watched Astoria. She sat alone as far away from everyone as possible. She seemed to be pushing the food around her plate, not eating anything. Then suddenly a girl sat next to her. The other girl looked quite like Astoria, except for her hair. Astoria's hair was dark brown, so dark that in a dim light, it looked black. But this other girl's hair was very much lighter, almost blonde.<p>

"What are you looking at?" Theodore Nott asked as he sat opposite Draco. Draco turned to look at Theodore.

"Who's that girl sitting next to Astoria Greengrass?" he asked. Theodore took a quick look.

"That's Daphne Greengrass. They're sisters but they're nothing like each other. If they call Astoria a blood-traitor, they should call Daphne a Death Eater. You should know Daphne, she's in our year", he explained. Draco took another look at the two girls. Sisters. It was obvious now that he knew.

"Why are you suddenly interested in someone like her?" Theodore asked. Draco just glared at him.

"I'm not interested in Astoria Greengrass," he said. For some unknown reason this made Theodore grin in a very Slytherin like way.

"I wasn't talking about Astoria, but good thing that we got that one covered," he said.

"Well, I'm not interested in Daphne Greengrass either", Draco said. Theodore was looking at the two sisters. Draco glanced at him and saw how he stared at Daphne and how she got up and walked out of the Great Hall.

"Go talk to her," Draco suddenly said. He didn't know what got him to say it. Maybe because Theodore was one of the few people in the whole world who he saw as his friend. Or at least an equal.

"You should go talk to the younger sister," Theodore said, "Astoria," he added when he noticed that Draco was frowning. Did Theodore think that he was interested in _dating_ Astoria?

"What are you talking about?" asked Pansy when she sat down next to Draco. Draco rolled his eyes a little, a gesture that Theodore didn't miss.

"We were talking about the Greengrass sisters," Theodore explained to Pansy. Pansy made a face,

"Why?" she asked. Draco just shrugged before turning to Pansy slightly and saying:

"I didn't recognize them and I asked who they were."

"Oh. Well Daphne's alright. She's my friend, she can be a little annoying sometimes. Oh and Blaise fancies her," Pansy said. Draco noticed how Theodore's jaw tightened. Draco wanted to chuckle. Should he warn Blaise about Theodore?

"What about the other one?" Draco asked. He wanted to know at least something about her. He had been observing her during the breakfast and even asked Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle, but they knew nothing about her.

"I don't know much about _her._ Just that she's a blood-traitor. Or that's what everyone says. I was actually planning about hexing her and humiliating her sometime today. I have nothing better to do," Draco ignored Pansy's last words

"So what you mean is that _no one_ really knows _anything_ about her," he said. This got Theodore interested too. It wasn't often that Pansy didn't know the latest gossip. And when it was about someone like Astoria there was bound to be some gossip around Hogwarts.

"I guess you're right. I only know what Daphne's told me and even she doesn't seem to know much. They don't talk a lot," Pansy explained. Draco just nodded. He looked around the Great Hall and decided that it was time to go to the Vanishing Cabinet again. He just had to find Crabbe and Goyle first.

_I bet they're in the common room,_ Draco thought to himself. He got up and was about to leave when Pansy's voice rang from behind him:

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" Draco looked back at his plate. He hadn't even touched it. "No," he said. He hadn't been hungry in a long time. And it seemed that now he had even more to worry about than before. Astoria. What was he going to do about her?

Astoria saw Draco getting up from the table and walking towards her or more likely towards the door. She looked quickly back at her plate. She had been rather shocked by her own behaviour last night. She had said things that she knew could get her in a lot of trouble and Astoria Greengrass didn't get in trouble. No, Astoria had always taken care of herself and made sure that she said nothing that could upset someone. Not that she didn't know how to duel, no it certainly wasn't about that.

"You should watch out for yourself," a voice suddenly whispered in to her ear. Astoria gasped lightly and turned just in time to see Draco Malfoy walk by. Why would he say something like that to her? Why on earth? Then something clicked in Astoria's head. _Was he threatening me?_ she asked herself. It was very much possible. She had said some things she regretted last night. But she had also found out many things.

Like for one, she now knew for sure that Draco Malfoy was a Death Eater. He hadn't admitted that of course but it had been obvious enough when he hadn't denied it. Astoria wasn't quite sure how she felt about that.

She knew that she should consider Draco as someone very dangerous but her nature was against it. She had never been afraid of Draco Malfoy and she wasn't about to start. Even if others did, Astoria didn't think that Draco was anything more than a kid who had (or at least had had) a powerful father.

With these thoughts Astoria got up from the table and walked out of the Great Hall. It was Friday and it was snowing outside. Astoria stared out of a window for a moment, just looking at the snow. Oh how she hated snow. It was cold and wet and everything that Astoria hated and it was too clean anyways. Nothing was supposed to be that white.

Suddenly Astoria felt herself fall back. She fell on her back and hit her head to the ground. She heard distant laughing. She looked around and saw a few Gryffindors, including Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley. But they hadn't caused her fall. It had been the work of one person and one person only.

Astoria got up and pointed her wand at the person. Without quite realizing what she was doing, she saw the person fly back. She hadn't said anything. Even Astoria herself was surprised. Fifth years weren't supposed to know how to cast spells without speaking.

A small smile rose to Astoria's lips as she saw her attacker get up and straightened her robes. Astoria continued to smile as she said:

"Having problems with your shielding charm, are you Parkinson?"

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><p>In the next chapter, I thought I'd make it clear just how good friends Astoria is with the Gryffindors. Don't worry, there will be a big fight between Pansy and Astoria that you won't wanna miss.<p> 


	4. Pureblood Manners

**AN:** Hello again, I have to say I'm really pleased that someone's reviewed this. I originally thought that no one would, so thank you all for that. Let me tell you something about this chapter: there's a person in this chapter, that will become a good friend of Astoria's but I won't tell you who that person is. And just to tease a bit more, I confess, that there will be some Draco/Astoria action in the next chapter. But, without more words, here's the story.

Disclaimer: Do I own Harry Potter? No, no I don't and I never will.

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><p>Hermione was more than just surprised when she saw the younger witch attack Parkinson. She didn't quite know what to think. Who was this girl anyways? She certainly wasn't in her year and she didn't think that the witch was a year above them. So that meant...<p>

"Ginny. Who is that?" Hermione whispered. Ginny glanced at her before answering.

"Astoria Greengrass. Slytherin. Not a very popular one though. They all say she's a blood-traitor."

Hermione's mouth formed a little 'o' as she understood what Ginny was talking about. Hermione had once heard about this girl.

"There's nothing wrong with my charms Greengrass," Pansy Parkinson suddenly hissed. It was obvious that she was very angry. Hermione couldn't help but to smile.

"What is going on in here?" she suddenly heard Harry ask.

"That girl just stunned Parkinson", Hermione said, not bothering to ask when Harry had got there. She could also see Ron standing beside Harry. There was a smile dancing on Ron's lips. He was enjoying seeing Parkinson humiliated.

"Oh really. Well if there's nothing wrong with it then you just must be a terrible witch," the Greengrass girl said.

Pansy made a face. She obviously had nothing to say. Then the Greengrass girl just turned around and started walking away.

Everyone could see Pansy raising her wand but somehow Astoria was faster and then, once again, Pansy was lying on the ground.

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><p>Astoria was still very angry but she also knew that it would do no good to cause a scene in front of the Great Hall. She looked at Pansy once again before turning around and walking away (for the second time already!).<p>

Astoria ran and ran and ran. She didn't know where she was going or how far she already was, she just kept running. So much had happened since yesterday and now she had gone and made Pansy Parkinson hate her!

Then suddenly Astoria felt like she was falling down again. '_Not again',_ she thought. Had Pansy somehow caught up with her?

"Greengrass?" a very angry voice asked. Astoria looked down, only to find that she was laying on top of Draco Malfoy. She got up as quickly as she could. She didn't apologize, because it wasn't a thing purebloods did.

For a moment, Draco and Astoria just stared at each other. There were no words that needed to be spoken. No lies. Astoria knew the question that was quietly hanging in the air.

"Have you told anyone about our little, ah, meeting last night?" Draco said, finally asking the question.

"No," was Astoria's simple answer. Draco just nodded.

"Why?" Draco suddenly asked. Astoria didn't bother asking what he meant when she knew the answer all too well.

"Well, I figured that there must be a good reason why you were made a Death Eater. I don't think things would end all that well if I would let everyone know," Astoria explained. She had been asking herself the same question all night. Should she tell others? Should she risk everything to make sure that Malfoy did nothing stupid?

Astoria knew that if the Drak Lord had truly made Draco a Death Eater, then there must be a good reason for it. And if there was a good reason for it, then she was risking her own life by telling others. Astoria wasn't ready to die. Even though she got along with Gryffindors, it didn't mean that she was like them. She wouldn't risk her life. Not for something that hadn't even proved out to be a danger.

"Alright," Draco said and then he just walked away. Astoria stared at his back as he walked away. Her mind was screaming: _'Have you ever heard of pureblood manners?'_ Those were the words she wanted to scream after him. But of course, she didn't.

Astoria got looks from almost every Slytherin sixth year student. Apparently Pansy had made it seem as if Astoria had attacked her first. How very Slytherin of her. Even professor Snape gave her a weird look.

"Hi Astoria! What happened this morning?" Luna Lovegood asked when Astoria walked by her in the hallway. Astoria stopped and looked around. The hallway was almost empty. Luna was her friend and Astoria really thought she was quite funny but she just didn't want to give her fellow house mates a reason to bully her.

"Nothing special. I stunned Parkinson. What about you? Have you done something special today?" Astoria was trying to change the subject. She really didn't want to talk about stunning Pansy.

"Oh no. I did spot a few wrackspurts today though," Luna said. "They're not very easy to find," she added in a misty tone. Astoria was rather uncomfortable. Wrackspurts? Really?

"I've never seen a wrackspurt," she confessed. She wanted to be nice to Luna. Everyone else always seemed to think she was crazy, but Astoria knew that Luna just believed in her father's opinions. Something that Slytherins were very familiar with.

And with that, Astoria's thoughts raced right back to Draco Malfoy. She couldn't help but to think, that maybe if Draco's parents (mostly his father) hadn't always been so obsessed with power and dark magic, maybe Draco wouldn't have become the person he was. A Death Eater._ 'What sort of a parent wants their child to become a Death Eater?'_ Astoria thought. The answer came faster than she had originally thought. _'A Malfoy'_

"You should figure it out, you know. The thing that's bothering you,"Luna suddenly said. Astoria stared at her in disbelief. There wasn't anything to figure out, was there? No absolutely not. Astoria had already decided that she would keep her mouth shut and would not tell anyone about Draco's activities. Not that she even really knew what he was doing.

"I should go", Astoria said, "I have too much homework to do. I don't know if I will survive." Luna gave her a smile and for some reason Astoria felt as if she knew what Astoria was thinking. And what exactly was Astoria thinking? She needed to figure out things with Malfoy.

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><p>The next day, Astoria woke up late and when she walked into the Great Hall, everyone was talking. The noise was huge. This time though, they weren't talking about Astoria.<p>

She walked to the Slytherin table and sat down onto her usual spot. She then noticed that her sister, Daphne, was sitting a few seats away from her, talking to Blaise Zabini. Then, just to make things more weird, Astoria felt someonw sit next to her. Her heart jumped a bit. Malfoy?

But, to her surprise, it wasn't Malfoy or anyone she had ever really talked to. It was Theodore Nott.

"I need you to make your sister leave Blaise," he said. Astoria just stared at him for a moment. What?

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading!<strong>


	5. In Need Of Advice

_**A.N:** _Hello everyone! I have to thank everyone who reviewed!

So, I found this chapter rather hard to write, therefore it might not be my best work. This chapter is sort of full of things that lead up to the events of the next chapters. But anyways, here's this one. It has that Astoria/ Draco action, like I promised, though in a more mild way that I originally thought, but that doesn't really matter. I hope you all like it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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><p>"I need to...what?" Astoria was more confused than ever before. Why was Theodore Nott asking her to destroy her sister's possible relationship?<p>

"I want you to make sure that Daphne leaves Blaise," Theodore said. Astoria stared at him and waited for some sort of explanation.

"Why?" she asked. This made Theodore look a bit mad. Astoria couldn't help but to wonder if she'd said something wrong.

"I think you know why. I don't want her to date Blaise! In fact, she shouldn't date any other guy!" Astoria smiled a bit when she realized that Theodore Nott was actually jealous. Theodore Nott. Jealous! _What a scandal,_ Astoria thought.

"And why is it, that _you_ can't make her brake up with Blaise? Why don't you just go to her and declare your eternal love for her or something? I'm sure that would work better," she then said. There was a teasing edge to Astoria's voice. She was amused.

"You know as well as I do, that Purebloods do not do things like that. I'm not going to make myself look like a fool, when there's a much more simple way to make them break up," Theodore said. Astoria stared at him again. Did Theodore really care about her sister so much that he needed to come to her, Astoria, the girl that every Slytherin hated, just to make sure that Daphne wouldn't end up with someone else? It appeared so and Astoria couldn't help but to think that Daphne would be lucky to have someone who cared about her.

She glanced at her sister and Blaise, who were sitting quite far away from her and Theodore. They were talking and Astoria saw how Blaise wrapped his arm around Daphne. It was very clear what that meant. Daphne was his.

Slytherins weren't like Gryffindors. They didn't hold hands, at least not unless it meant something. Astoria watched how Blaise whispered something in Daphne's ear and Daphne giggled. Astoria didn't think it was funny, she had heard about Blaise's reputation. Blaise had had many girlfriends. Too many for Astoria's liking.

"I'll do it," Astoria suddenly said. She was surprised that she said it, but nothing could compare to the look Theodore had on his face. He was shocked.

"What?" he asked.

"I will help you break them apart, if you want. I don't want my sister dating someone like Blaise Zabini," Astoria said. Theodore nodded.

"I know. Not the most purest bloodline out there," he said. Astoria nodded even though she didn't care about Blaise's bloodline. She couldn't care less if he was a pureblood or a bloody muggle, he was a disgusting womanizer either way.

"So we have a deal. You will break them apart," Theodore said. Astoria looked at him. Her brains were working fast on a plan.

"You have to be ready though. I can make Daphne suspect that Blaise isn't right for her, but you have to be there, ready to show her who is. I'll help her make the decision of course. We don't want her to choose wrong, do we?" she said. Theodore looked impressed. He hadn't thought that Astoria would agree to it. He'd thought that she wasn't Slytherin enough. But apparently, he'd been wrong.

"No, we most certainly don't," he said.

"You should probably go," Astoria said. She had seen her sister looking at them. Theodore nodded and left the Great Hall.

Astoria had a rather bright smile on her face when she drank the rest of her pumpkin juice and walked out of the Great Hall, to her classes. She knew exactly how to make Daphne leave Blaise.

She was sitting in the Slytherin common room, later that day, doing her homework. It was rather late so she hadn't bothered to go to the library. Soon, Astoria was the only one in the common room, but she didn't mind. She needed to finish everything. Snape had given a huge amount of work, and Astoria couldn't help but to wonder if Snape truly enjoyed watching his students fail. Well, the Gryffindor students at least.

Then suddenly, Astoria could hear people talking. It sounded like at least two males. They were fighting.

"I don't know how long it will take!" the other one said. To Astoria's surprise, she recognized the speaker as Draco Malfoy.

"But..." another voice argued. Crabbe? Or was it Goyle?

"No buts!" Malfoy declared rather loudly and stormed into the common room where Astoria could see him. Crabbe and Goyle both followed Malfoy and nearly walked in to him when he stopped. They both looked around in confusion while Malfoy stared at Astoria.

"You can go," he said, "I'll come later."

Astoria raised an eyebrow. Why was Malfoy staying behind? To talk to her perhaps? When Crabbe and Goyle had gone, Draco turned to look at Astoria again. She stared right back.

"What do you want?" Astoria asked, while turning back to the book she was holding.

"I don't want anything," Malfoy said. "I simply want to know why you were talking to Theodore this morning."

Astoria's eyes turned to Malfoy immediately.

"Why do you need to know that? Are you jealous?" she asked. Malfoy's expression didn't change. He wasn't amused at all.

"No. I want to know what you two talked about," he said. Astoria laid the book in her lap and turned her full attention to Draco. His tone had been rather demanding. What gave him the idea that he could just walk in and demand to know why Astoria had talked to someone?

"You don't need to know," Astoria said. This made Draco's expression finally crack. He walked closer to Astoria.

"Tell me right now. Because you can be sure that if I find out that you've said anything even related to..." Draco started. He was trying to threaten her again, but Astoria cut him off.

"You think I told him about _that_?" she said. "Why on earth would I do that? Theodore came to ask me if I could help him sort out something related to his personal life."

"So you didn't tell him about your suspicions about me being a...?" Draco trailed off. He looked visibly relieved.

"No and by the way, you don't have to threaten me every time you see me," Astoria said. Draco looked rather puzzled by this.

"What do you mean again?"

"Well, you threatened me in the Great Hall, didn't you? 'You should watch out for yourself'." Draco just laughed at Astoria.

"I tried to warn you about Pansy!" he said, "I thought you realised that much."

Astoria just stared at him. He had tried to warn her? About Pansy? Really? But when Astoria started thinking about it, it started making sense. Draco had sat with Pansy in the Great Hall, she had seen them talking about something and looking at her and then, when she'd tried to leave the Great Hall, Pansy had tried to attack her.

"Why was Theodore in need of help with his personal life?" Draco suddenly asked.

"Huh?"

"Why was Theodore in need of advice?" Draco repeated.

"He wanted me to make Daphne leave Blaise" Astoria replied truthfully. She figured that there was no use in lying. Astoria watched as Draco nodded and then walked to an armchair not far away from the couch she was sitting on. He collapsed onto the chair, rested his head against it and closed his eyes. Astoria didn't say anything. He was better be left alone. He looked like he needed some rest.

So, as quietly as she possibly could, Astoria got up from the couch and went to the girls' dormitories. A few of the girls who shared a room with her were still awake, but they didn't say anything to her. As usual. She knew that they were propably staring at her, or talking about her. But Astoria had more important things to think about. Like for one, how to get Blaise away from her sister so she could talk to her?

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><p><strong><em>Thank you for reading. I also want to thank all of you, who take time to review and follow this story. Thank you.<em>**


	6. Realizing

_**AN: **_Yet another chapter. I'm glad to tell you that in this chapter you'll finally fid out what the story's title means. I don't really know how to describe this, so...here it is. Reviews are very much liked.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

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><p>As Astoria woke up she could feel that something was different. All of the girls in her dormitory were up. All of them. Most of them were still in their pajamas but one was completely dressed. Astoria was struggling to remember her name.<p>

"You have to come!" the girl said.

"Why? What's going on?" one of the other girls asked. The girl who was sitting on her bed, fully dressed, looked around and noticed that Astoria wasn't getting up.

"That means you too Astoria," she suddenly said. Astoria turned around in her bed so that she was now facing the girl. The other girls in her dormitory rarely talked to her, they didn't even seem to notice her at all.

"Why?" Astoria asked. She was a little suspicious. What was so important that it could make her normally so ignorant house mates actually talk to her?

"There's been another attack. Remember when that Bell girl got attacked? Well this time it was a Gryffindor too," the girl said. All the other girls in the room, including Astoria, gasped slightly. Astoria got up, so that she was now sitting.

"Who?" she asked. She knew some of the Gryffindors and she was hoping that the person attacked was not one of her friends.

"Blood-traitor Weasley," the girl said. Astoria's eyes widened.

"But, Grace, which one? There's like a dozen of them!" one of the girls said. Grace, the girl on the bed next to Astoria's, rolled her eyes.

"The guy...what was his name?" she wondered out loud.

"Ronald Weasley? One of Potter's friends?" Astoria offered. Grace's eyes widened as realization hit her.

"That's right! It was one of Harry Potter's best friends!" she screamed out. Astoria sat frozen on her bed.

"What happened to him?" she asked.

"I heard he was poisoned. I heard it happened in Slughorns office! Can you believe it?" Grace asked. The question was obviously meant for all of the girls.

"But...if he was poisoned, did he die?" a girl with blonde hair asked.

"No, of course he didn't Jen! Potter saved him" Grace said. Astoria frowned a bit. She didn't even remember that there was a girl in her dormitory named Jen. But then she realized that Jen must be short for Jennifer. _What an original name,_ Astoria thought.

Astoria's mind was racing through all sorts of things. It was putting pieces together.

Two attacks. A Death Eater in Hogwarts. No one knew who did it. Draco hiding things. Draco's disappearances...It all fit together far too well to be a coincidence, didn't it? So did that mean that Draco was behind both of the attacks? Possibly. Did it mean he was behind the attack on Ronald Weasley? Most likely. Did it mean that she would have to talk to him? Definitely.

Then Astoria realized what she had to do. She got up from her bed, grabbed her clothes and went to change them. After a few minutes, she came out of the bathroom, fully dressed. Some of the girls in her dormitory tried calling out after her but she couldn't have cared less. She needed to find him. She needed to find Draco and fast.

Soon enough, Astoria arrived to the Great Hall. She looked around and spotted Malfoy in the Slytherin table. She sat closer to Malfoy than she usually did, but not close enough for others to notice. Others than Malfoy himself.

Draco noticed Astoria the second she stepped in to the Great Hall. She seemed more serious than usual, like she would've seen a ghost. Draco wasn't stupid, it didn't take him even a minute to realize why she was so shocked. It was all because of Weasel. He didn't mind that it had been a Weasley who drank the potion and nearly died but he would've liked it even better if it had been Dumbledore. But that, of course, was something no one could know.

Every minute Draco was starting to care less and less about the way it had turned out. Instead he had realized something. He needed to make the vanishing cabinet work. He needed to fix it. Fast.

Suddenly he couldn't help but to notice that Astoria was glancing at him every few seconds. It was getting rather annoying really. He then decided that it would be better to just go talk to her. But of course, actually sitting next to her and talking to her would attract too much attention.

Astoria was pushing her food around her plate. She wasn't hungry at all and it didn't really look like she was going to get to talk to Malfoy anytime soon. However, as soon as she'd thought that she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was gone so soon that Astoria couldn't be sure if she'd really felt anything at all, but when she turned around to look who it was, she saw Draco Malfoy walking away from her and the Great Hall. She frowned a bit before looking around and getting up.

Astoria found Draco in the lands outside. He was leaning againts a wall, obviously waiting for her.

"Did you do it?" Astoria asked without wasting time.

"Do what?"

"Nearly kill a Gryffindor!" at this point Astoria was nearly yelling at him. Thankfully there wasn't much crowd outside. Everyone was still inside waking up, eating or talking to their friends.

"No." Draco knew that Astoria didn't believe his lie but it was worth a try.

"Do you realize how...how...how _wrong_ that is? YOU almost KILLED someone!" If someone was to describe Astoria at that moment, only one word would be used: furious.

"I didn't kill anyone. I had no part in that," Draco decided that it would do him more harm than good if he told Astoria that it really had been him who's poisoned the drink.

"Oh really? I'm supposed to believe that _you_, who hates Harry Potter and all of his friends and really just all Gryffindors, _didn't_ have anything to do with Ronald Weasley nearly dying? I'm supposed to believe that," Astoria said. Draco just nodded. He saw how Astoria seemed to think about something before yelling:

"You're out of your mind!" She yelled it loud enough that Draco was sure that even Hagrid had heard it. And to Hagrid's house was far away from where they were.

"No. I'm not. You listen to me when I say this: Let's make it clear. If anyone, and I mean anyone, asks that do you know anything about this or if you suspect anything, you will answer no. You will tell them that you have no idea who did it. Do you understand?" Draco was getting angrier by the minute. Why was he wasting time talking to this idiot when he could be fixing the cabinet? Why was he wasting his time on this girl? Why? Why?

"It's not that easy you know. You can't just...you can't do this," Astoria stuttered. She didn't know why she was so upset. It wasn't like she knew the Weasleys or anything.

"Oh really? I can't do this? Watch me," Draco said as he walked away.

"You do know that you're a monster, right?" This made Draco stop for a moment. What had she just said? But before he could say anything Astoria continued: "I have a motto, you know. 'For every frozen heart, there's a flame bright enough to melt it'. I know it's a silly motto to have but it's true. Except for you. Your heart, if it exists, is made of stone and no flame, no soul, no person, _no one_, will be able to melt it. And when people find out that you did this, you will be alone"

"Do you think I care?" Draco asked, while he still had his back turned to Astoria. Astoria just shrugged.

"You might not care now. But wait for a few years. Wait until there's no one there with you. When you have no friends. No one to love you. Because I can promise you that no one ever will," she said. There was a hint of a smile on Draco face when he turned around and finally faced Astoria.

"Then tell me," he said, "why do _you_ care?"

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><p><em><strong>Constructive criticism is always a good thing! Take the time to tell me what you thought of this chapter.<strong>_


	7. Questioning

**_A.N:_ **Here is yet another new chapter. I have to say, this is not my personal favourite, and I promise that the next one will be better. But without any more boring text, here it is!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Never have, never will.

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><p><em>"Then tell me", he said, "why do you care?"<em>

After those words Draco left. Astoria had no intention of going after him. She was done with him. She was done with his secret and the fact that he'd almost killed someone. Why did she even care? It was obvious that there was nothing she could do to stop him. There was nothing she could do to make things better either. If the Dark Lord had given Draco a task, Astoria wasn't going to get involved. In fact, she decided that she would stay as far away from him and his task as possible.

When Astoria was walking back to the dungeons to get her books (which she had completely forgotten), she suddenly heard someone calling out for her.

"Astoria!" the voice called. Astoria turned around to find that Theodore Nott was running towards her.

"Where on earth are you going in such a hurry?" he asked.

"What do you want?" Astoria asked, she really wasn't on the mood to talk to Theodore or anyone really.

"I want to know if you've had any luck with the thing I asked you to do?" Theodore asked. Astoria rolled her eyes a bit. Of course, Theodore wanted to know if she'd managed to get Daphne to break up with Blaise yet.

"No. Not really. But I'll start today," Astoria assured. Theodore just nodded and continued his way to somewhere else. Astoria was, again, a bit angry. What was it with Slytherin guys? Why did they always just walk away? _You know,_ Astoria thought, _the terms 'goodbye' and 'I'll see you later' are invented! You could use them! It's not that hard!_

With a small grunt Astoria continued her way towards the dungeons again. When she entered the common room she saw her sister sitting on a couch, alone. Astoria took a deep breath and walked to her.

"So. What have you been doing?" she asked from her sister who was clearly shocked about Astoria's arrival.

"Nothing, why?" Daphne said. Astoria could see that Daphne had no idea why she was asking questions.

"Oh, no reason. I just wanted to ask if there was something you wanted to tell me," Astoria said while looking down at her hands which were on her lap.

"No, I don't think there was anything special. Oh, Astoria, have you heard anything from father?" Daphne asked.

"No, and don't change the subject!" Astoria saw no reason in telling her sistrer about the letter she had sent to her father about Malfoy.

"I don't understand what you mean!" Daphne insisted. Astoria rolled her eyes one more time before turning to look at her sister straight in the eye.

"You're dating Zabini, right?" she said. Daphne eyes widened.

"No!" she said.

"Right! I'm not an idiot you know. I see things. I hear things," Astoria said, "I just thought that you would've told me. I am your sister after all."

"I didn't know that you wanted to know. I thought you hated him," Daphne said. This made Astoria turn to look around the Slytherin common room.

"I do. That's exactly why I thought you'd tell me. And we both know that mother wouldn't have liked him," Astoria said. It hurt her to mention their mother but she had no choice.

"Oh really. Why were you talking to Theodore Nott, by the way?" Daphne asked, turning to glare at her sister,

"No reason. The usual 'what are you staring at blood-traitor?' thing," Astoria was lying but Daphne didn't know that. Daphne didn't even know Astoria could lie. It was a fact that Astoria knew very well. Everyone always assumed that she was telling the truth. After all, why would the childish little blood-traitor girl lie about anything?

"Anyways. I need to go," Astoria suddenly said. She was getting the feeling that the first part of her still unfinished plan was complete.

"Right," was Daphne's answer and soon enough she turned back to the book she had been reading and Astoria went back to her usual spot on the other side of the common room, where no one ever saw her.

While sitting on her lonely place in the corner, Astoria observed her fellow house mates. Her gaze landed on Daphne first. Astoria knew that when she had mentioned their mother to Daphne, she had made Daphne doubt her relationship with Blaise. Because even though Daphne Greegrass would never admit it, her mother had meant just as much to her as she had to Astoria. And Astoria knew that that doubt would only keep growing in her mind.

The next Slytherin to be observed was Blaise Zabini himself. He had just entered the common room, followed by Thodore Nott. Astoria couldn't understand how Theodore could stand being near to Blaise. Not that Astoria had ever really been given any reason to not like Blaise, it was just the tiny fact that he was dating her sister.

Astoria was not surprised when she noticed that Malfoy was not in the common room. Neither was Crabbe or Goyle for that matter. They rarely made an appearance, really. Not that Astoria cared though, she had had enough of Draco Malfoy. But the more she tried to think like that, the more she realized that she really did care about what Draco was doing. _'After all, he might end up killing someone',_ Astoria thought.

With a shake of her head, Astoria went to get her books and prepare for the days classes.

Astoria was bored out of her mind during all of her classes and she was more than glad to get out when the class finally ended. Astoria was just walking by the hospital wing, when she saw Pansy Parkinson coming towards her. Trying to hide from Parkinson, Astoria opened the door to the Hospital Wing and slipped inside. Once inside she held her breath because she thought she'd seen Pansy looking straight at her.

It was only then that she saw that she wasn't the only person in the Hospital Wing. Someone was lying on a bed not far from her and there was a group of people looking down at the bed. Astoria wanted to vanish into thin air as she noticed who was lying on the bed. It was Ronald Weasley.

Astoria, being rather gifted in potions, knew very well what a poison could do to someone but still it made her sick when she saw Weasley lying on the bed looking almost dead. And it wasn't even that that made Astoria feel sick, it was the fact that she knew very well who had done it.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she noticed that all the people around the bed were staring at her. There was a couple of adults (who Astoria realized to be Mr. and Mrs. Weasley) and the twins, Fred and George Weasley and Neville Longbottom along with Ginny Weasley.

Astoria stood frozen in her place.

"Greengrass?" Ginny Weasley asked, "What are you doing"

Without hesitation Astoria answered. "I'm hiding from Parkinson. I really don't want to duel again."

Ginny nodded but earned a few curious glances from her family members, who knew nothing about this duel Ginny and Astoria spoke of.

Clearing her throat Astoria muttered a small: "I'm going to go now...Sorry."

When she was out of the room, Astoria let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She ran away from the hospital wing as quickly as she could, and did not turn to look back. But if she had, she would've seen a very curious Vincent Crabbe looking after her.

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading.<strong>


	8. Feelings And Their Effects

_**AN: **_Now this chapter is something that took me a while to write. Don't ask me why, I don't know. I apologize for any grammar mistakes, and I also want to thank everyone who reviewed! Reviews are very very much loved!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, nothing, nothing...oh wait,...nothing!

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><p>Days had passed but the talk about Ron Weasley's poisoning had not gone away. Neither had Astoria's curiosity of Draco's business.<p>

Astoria was sitting in the library, trying to do her potions homework. These days, people could see her do that quite often. She was always somewhere in the library or outside, but no one ever saw her talk to anyone. It was all very odd. To Astoria, of course, nothing about it was odd, she was living her life like she normally did. Unnoticed. Or so she thought.

Although Astoria never saw it, Draco was keeping an eye on her. And if he didn't have the time, he'd ask Crabbe, Goyle or Blaise to do it. Naturally he never told them why, he just told them to see what she was doing. The boys didn't mind at all. Crabbe and Goyle would've done anything for Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini was just trying to catch Astoria doing something she shouldn't. Blaise was aware that Astoria had said something that had upset Daphne, but he was having a hard time finding out what it was.

Draco himself just wanted to know if Astoria was keeping her mouth shut, and also, he found himself being very curious about the whole Theodore/Astoria thing. Not that he cared who Astoria was seeing, of course not. It was just the fact that he didn't want Astoria to tell Theodore anything. Or at least that's what Draco kept telling himself.

On that particular day however, things were different. This time, it was Draco who was keeping an eye on Astoria but unlike all the other times, this time Astoria saw him.

"Malfoy? What are you doing?" she hissed as she saw Draco looking at her. There was really no one else in that particular section of the library so no one heard her, except for Draco.

"I'm reading," Draco said while giving Astoria a look that seemed to be questioning her mental state.

"Don't play with me Malfoy. What are you doing?" Astoria asked. Draco rolled his eyes and placed his book back on to the shelf.

"I was reading, but it seems that you're obsessed with everything I do, so I can't read my book," he said and took a couple of steps towards Astoria. This didn't go unnoticed.

"You're lying, aren't you? And why are you coming closer? To me it seems that you're the one who's obsessed," she said. Draco glared at Astoria but she didn't seem to even notice it.

"No, I'm not obsessed with anything," Draco said. When he got no response from Astoria, he stormed out of the library. Astoria looked after him without realizing just what was going to happen once Draco got out of the library.

The next day, when Astoria woke up, she felt somehow different. Although she couldn't quite express it, she had one word to describe it. Bad. Something was going to happen. Or maybe something had happened. She'd had that feeling since the library meeting with Malfoy. She had no idea why she felt that way, but she knew that those sort of feelings should never be ignored.

Before Astoria even got to the common room, she heard people talking. Once she walked in to the common room, she saw that there were more people than usual there. It seemed that today everyone had something to talk about. Then she saw Theodore Nott walking towards her.

"What's going on?" Astoria asked once Theodore was right in front of her.

"Malfoy's got himself hurt," Theodore said. Astoria's face went pale. She started feeling like the whole room was spinning around. Malfoy was hurt?

"But-But-But how?" Astoria stuttered. Although she didn't really care if Malfoy was hurt, but she still felt very guilty. The thought of Draco leaving the library wouldn't get out of Astoria's mind.

"Potter. I don't know how, though. He didn't tell me when I visited him," Theodore said. Astoria sighed with relief. So at least Malfoy was awake. But then another fear woke up in Astoria. Potter had attacked Malfoy. Why? Had he figured out what Draco was up to?

Astoria was just about to ask Theodore if Malfoy had said why Potter attacked him, but the she saw her sister. Daphne was sitting on one of the sofas in the mddle of the common room.

"Hey Theodore," Astoria said, "Go talk to her. _Now_." Theodore understood what Astoria was saying and went to sit next to Daphne. For a moment Astoria watched the two sit on the couch and talk but when she saw that nothing mind blowing wasn't going to happen, she decided that she had better go see just why Malfoy had been attacked.

There weren't much people around the halls of Hogwarts. Astoria didn't see any students except for some Gryffindors who were talking about Potter beating Malfoy. Once they saw Astoria and that she was a Slytherin, they left. Astoria frowned at this. People were starting to hate Slytherins more and more every day.

At the doors of the hospital wing, Astoria hesitated. Was she just about to go to see Malfoy? With a shake of her head Astoria decided to leave those thoughts behind. Malfoy himself had dragged her into this. When Astoria opened the door, she saw Madam Pomfrey.

"Have you come to see the Malfoy boy?" she asked. Astoria nodded,

"He's resting, but I don't think he would mind a visitor," Madam Pomfrey said. Again Astoria just nodded. She looked around for a moment before noticing Draco on a bed in the furthest corner of the hospital wing. Astoria walked slowly to him. It seemed that he was sleeping but the second Astoria sat down, Draco opened his eyes.

"Greengrass," he said.

"Disappointed?" Astoria asked, "I know you were propably waiting for Parkinson." She smiled as she saw Draco's eyes widen in horror.

"Parkinson? Did you see Parkinson somewhere?" he asked, genuinely horrified.

"Don't worry," Astoria whispered rather playfully, "I'll tell her that you're asleep and can't see anyone." At this, Draco only nodded.

"What are you doing here Greengrass?" he asked after a moment had passed.

"I heard you were hurt," Astoria answered truthfully. This answer was very interesting to Draco. Had she been worried about her? And why?

"And I also wanted to know why Potter attacked you," Astoria continued. If there had once been a small smile on Draco's face, there certainly wasn't anymore.

"How do you know about that? I only told..._Theodore_! I should have known this. You two are so close," Draco muttered the last words mainly to himself but yet, Astoria heard them.

"Not actually. I think Daphne might have broken up with Blaise. Which means that Theodore now has a chance at getting a date with Daphne so I'm not needed anymore," Astoria assured. It was a complete mystery to Astoria why Draco was so interested in her and Theodore.

"So, why did you get beaten up by Potter?" Astoria questioned. Draco looked at the ceiling for a moment before saying very quietly:

"He suspects."

"You mean he knows?"

"No," Draco said while turning to look at Astoria, "Your precious Saint Potter doesn't know anything, but he suspects." Astoria ignored Draco's last words and stared at his chest instead. Even though he was wearing a shirt, Astoria thought she could see something, like some sort of marks on his chest.

"What spell did he use?" Astoria asked while turning to look back at Draco's face.

"I don't know. I'd never heard it before," Draco answered. Astoria nodded at this. She was staring at his chest again. There was an odd feeling in Astoria's heart. Something like relief. But why would she feel something like that? Was she relieved that Mafloy was okay? No, Astoria told herself, it's not that!

"You're insane," Draco suddenly said. Astoria looked outraged.

"I came all the way here just to make sure that you haven't messed up whatever you're doing, which, you still have told me nothing about, and you tell me I'm insane? Well I'm truly sorry _mister_ _Malfoy_! I will not bother you again!" Astoria hissed and stormed out of the room.

Draco stared after her as she left and wondered just why she had got so upset. He had only referred to the look on Astoria's face and the way she had ran to him the moment she'd heard he was hurt. He was also trying to figure out why it bothered him. Why on earth did he care about someone like Astoria Greengrass? Then it hit him. Care. Surely he wasn't...no. It was impossible, but yet so likely. And it was at that moment that Draco Malfoy first realized just how attracted he was to Astoria Greengrass.

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><p><em><strong>Thank you for reading.<strong>_


	9. Betrayal And A Letter

_**A.N: **_I can't even begin to describe how much I've loved your reviews. I want to thank everyone who reviewed this story.

**About this chapter:** I found that it was easier than I though to write this. First I thought it would be hard to write down all of those feelings but as it turned out, it wasn't. I apologize for any grammar mistakes, and I hope that you like this chapter. So: here it is!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

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><p>Again, a few days passed. Astoria didn't see or talk to Draco. She didn't even want to hear his name. She no longer cared. Why would she? It seemed that no matter what she did, he'd still find a way to get someone killed, or at least almost killed. '<em>So far he hasn't killed anyone'<em> Astoria kept reminding herself.

During these few passing days, Astoria had tried to focus on other things.

She was now absolutely certain that Daphne had left Blaise. Was it because of Astoria's words or for a reason she wasn't aware of? She didn't know. But in the end, she was happy that she had helped Theodore. It also seemed that Daphne had not only broken up with Blaise but also, Daphne was already in another relationship. With Theodore Nott.

This was something that the Slytherins talked about every day. How Daphne Greengrass, the daughter of Death Eater and a known supporter of St. Mungo's hospital, Michael Greengrass, was now dating the son of another Death Eater. Whenever Astoria heard these words it felt like everywhere she looked, stood at least one Death Eater.

Her father, her sister's new boyfriend's father and possibly the boyfriend himself and then there was Malfoy. But like said before, Astoria was not thinking about him.

It was rather late one evening when Astoria was sitting in the Slytherin common room. To be precise, every Slytherin was sitting in the common room, well, except for the first years. Just a moment ago, they'd all heard something. A scream perhaps. A sound of people fighting. They all sat there like frozen. Especially Astoria.

She had a bad feeling about the fight sounds. Why would someone be fighting in Hogwarts? At this hour? And it sounded like there was more than two people fighting. Then suddenly, everyone fell silent. They were all looking at the person who came in to the room. It was a girl. A third year or a fourth year, maybe, Astoria wasn't sure. The girl looked very pale. Almost like the ghosts.

The girl stuttered something very quietly, so that only the people near the door were able to hear her. Those who heard, gasped. "What did she say?" Astoria heard Blaise yell from the other side of the room. He was standing with Crabbe and Goyle.

One of the seventh year students who'd heard the little girl's words, stood up. "She says," the seventh year kept a pause as if she was uncertain of what would happen if she'd speak, "She says that Dumbledore is dead and that the Mark is in the sky above the Astronomy Tower."

The whole room exploded into gasps, yells, talk and screams. But Astoria felt like she couldn't hear anything. Dumbledore was dead. No. That wasn't possible. Who would've been so...?

Then it hit Astoria like a cruciatus curse. Draco. He'd been planning something. Had that been the plan? To kill Dumbledore? But he couldn't have possibly tried to kill Dumbledore on his own, had he? Even he wasn't that foolish. So had he managed to summon Death Eaters in to Hogwarts? Astoria asked herself. Had Draco managed to make the place they all felt safe in, a place where they should all be afraid?

Astoria shook her head and got up from her seat. She had to see it for herself. She wouldn't believe that Dumbledore was dead before she saw his dead body.

Astoria felt numb as she walked out of the common room. Without her really even noticing it, people followed her. Apparently, some the Slytherins had the same way of thinking. They wouldn't believe it before they saw it.

Soon enough the Slytherins reached the place just under the Astronomy Tower. There was a crowd there. They were all staring at something and Astoria could see that some of them were crying. Without listening to anything that anyone said, Astoria walked through the crowd.

She stopped walking the second she saw it. Dumbledore. Dead. It was real. Dumbledore was really dead. He'd killed Dumbledore. Draco had killed Dumbledore. Astoria felt how a tear slowly fell down her cheek. She didn't know why she was crying. Because Dumbledore was dead or because she felt guilty.

"I knew," Astoria whispered to herself. She had known. She had known that Malfoy had the Dark Mark but she hadn't tried to stop him. She'd even gone to see him when he was in the hospital wing.

More tears rolled down Astoria's face as she watched how Harry Potter knelt down next to Dumbledore and how Ginny, Potter's new girlfriend, went to help him up. Astoria and Ginny stared at each other for a fraction of a second before Ginny nodded to her and turned back to Harry. Astoria didn't stay to see what happened next.

Astoria ran to the common room as fast as she could, hoping that it would take her mind off of Dumbledore. However, when Astoria entered the common room, she found that there were some people still there. They all stared at Astoria, but Astoria couldn't bring herself to look back.

"Is it true?" Astoria heard Grace, the girl who slept in the same dormitory as her, ask. Astoria nodded.

"Yes," she whispered. Then, clearing her throat, she announced more loudly, "Yes. It's true. Dumbledore's dead."

This time the common room was taken over by a silence. Astoria didn't want to explain anything to anyone, so she continued her way to her dormitory. Once there, she searched her quill, some ink and a piece of parchment and started writing.

_Draco, _

_I have no idea why I am writing this, but I feel that I have to. I feel that someone has to. _

_How could you? How could you do something like that? Why betray all of us? Because that is exactly what you've done. Betrayed everyone. It would better if it would've been you instead of Dumbledore. It would have been better if we had lost a useless coward like you instead of a brave and wise man. I hope you remember that._

_Indeed, I hope that you remember my words. No one will ever love you. No one will ever forgive you for this. I know I won't. And believe me when I say that I have forgiven a lot of things in my life, but this, this is something that I can not forgive. _

_And I also hope that you regret this. I hope that the regret is so great that it will consume you and you will have the courage to kill yourself instead of innocent people. _

_And the last thing that I hope and wish with all my heart, is that when you go to sleep, tonight or any night, you will remember the words I said so many days ago. 'For every frozen heart, there is a flame bright enough to melt it'. Except for you. Because I, like so many others will, believe you have no heart. Or if you do, it will be made of stone and ice that will never melt before the day that that damned piece of stone stops beating._

_With everything but love,_

_Astoria G. _

Hours later, Draco Malfoy stood in his room with a letter in his hands. There was nothing he could say, yet there were so many things he wanted to say. He slowly sat onto his bed while still looking at the letter. His thumb moved slowly over the last few words. _'With everything but love' _, the ink was smudged like a drop of water had fallen on to it. It didn't take a genius to figure out where it had come from. Astoria had cried. Because of him.

For the first time in his entire life, Draco felt something. Like a stab in the heart. Not quite guilt but something else. A pain of some sort. Draco was willing to do anything to make that horrible feeling stop, so he almost ran to his desk and with a tear falling down his cheek, started writing.

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><p><em><strong>You'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out exactly what Draco wrote. Sorry, but again, thanks for reading.<strong>_


	10. A Few Not So Nice Words

**A.N:** I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get this out, but I was out of town and naturally forgot to move the file to my laptop. Anyways, here it is now. _**I also want to thank everyone who has submitted a review. Keep them coming. They keep me going. It's nice to know what you think of the story so far.**_

I suppose this chapter isn't much different from the last one. Astoria's still angry, but now she's starting to...well, you'll find out by reading it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, and I suppose I never will.

**_Sorry for any grammar_ _mistakes._**

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><p><em>Astoria,<em>

_I read your letter and I must say I have no idea of what you were trying to say..._

Draco stared at the words he had written down. They were not the words he wanted to say, but he couldn't tell Astoria how he felt about her letter, could he? Quickly Draco grabbed the letter he had began to write and tore it in to pieces. Then, he took a new piece of parchament.

_Astoria,_

_I'm glad to tell you that I have recieved your letter. It was very... enlightening. You are right. Someone had to write that letter to me. I needed to hear, or more like see those words._

_But there are some things in that letter that I need to set straight. First of all, I have not betrayed anyone. I never even liked Dumbledore, everyone knew that. Don't tell me that you were surprised. _

_Second, I'd like you to know that I do remember your words from that day. Every one of those words. But I also wish you to know that like I said before, I do not care. Do you think I care, Astoria, if no one will love me? Do you think I need that? Love is a weakness. People die for their loved ones. And I do not want to die for anyone._

_And lastly, I would like to inform you that I shall do as you wished and think about the words in that letter tonight, although I do not see how it would make any difference if I remembered them now instead of tonight._

_And also, promise me that everything that you know, or think you might know, will reach no one's ears. Because if you let someone know, then we're both in danger. And like I said: I don't want to die for anyone. _

_Draco M._

Draco was just about to give the letter to his owl when he realized something. There was one more thing that Astoria needed to know, but at the same time it was the only thing he couldn't tell her. The only thing he shouldn't tell her. What would she do with that information? There was no need for her to know that he hadn't been the one to kill Dumbledore, was there?

Without thinking any further, Draco wrote Astoria's name on to an envelope and put the letter inside. He then handed the letter to his owl. Astoria's owl, who had brought Astoria's letter, had left immediately after dropping the letter in to Draco's lap. Obviously Astoria wasn't waiting for a response. For a moment Draco stopped to wonder how his owl had found him in the first place. Had it known to fly straight to the manor? With a shake of his head, Draco decided to not even bother to think about it. Instead, he just sat on to his bed wondering when Astoria would get the letter.

The next morning everything was quiet. Some students were being taken home by their parents and other relatives while others (particularly the Gryffindors) refused to leave Hogwarts before Dumbledore's funeral. Astoria was sitting in the Great Hall, alone like always, when an owl landed right in front of her. At first she wondered why the owl thought that she was the person it was looking for, but then she noticed that the owl was indeed carrying a letter with her name on it.

Slowly, Astoria took the letter and opened it.

"Is it from father?" Daphne suddenly asked. Astoria hadn't even seen her move from her seat next to Theodore.

"I don't think so", Astoria said as she looked at the envelope, "It doesn't look like father's handwriting"

"Well, open it", Daphne encouraged.

Astoria opened the letter carefully. Then she looked at the bottom of the parchament where she saw Draco's name.

"No", she said quickly, "it's not from father"

Daphne frowned. "Then who is it from?"

"No one. It's...personal", Astoria said a bit too quickly.

"Personal? What do you mean personal? Is it from a boy?" When Astoria said nothing, Daphne's smile grew into a wide grin.

"It is, isn't it? It's from some boy. So, is that his owl? What house is he in? Slytherin? Please tell me he's not in Hufflepuff!" Daphne said.

"It's not from a boy", Astoria said, "And how can you even bother yourself with things like that? Dumbledore's dead! Do you understand Daphne? Dead! Oh and also, if this were from some boy, why on earth would he send it to me instead of just giving it to me in the hallway?" Astoria stormed out of the Great Hall and in to the grounds outside, hoping that Daphne believed her lie. She went as far as the lake, where she sat on to a rock and opened the letter again.

She read it over and over, for what seemed like a thousand times. The words were spinning in her mind. _I never even liked Dumbledore. Love is a weakness. I do not see how it would make any difference..._

But the words that angered Astoria the most were: _Promise me_. How dare he ask her to promise him anything? How dare he? With the letter in her hand, Astoria went back to the castle. If she had been angry with Daphne, it was nothing compared to the anger she felt now. She found her way to the dungeons and in to the Slytherin dormitories. There she grabbed her quill and...where the hell was her parchment? Astoria searched everywhere but she couldn't find any parchment. With Draco's letter still in her hands Astoria sat on to her bed. Then she got an idea.

She took one of her books and placed Draco's letter on top of it. Then she turned the letter around so that the blank side was now facing the ceiling. With feeling of victory, Astoria started writing yet another angry letter to Draco.

_You git! How dare you ask me to promise you anything? How? Have you completely lost your mind? And the letter was brought by your own owl? Honestly? What if someone would have recognized it? Huh? I think you have no idea how much people hate you right now. They might not all know about your little adventures but the Gryffindors...I can tell you that if they catch you, you won't survive it. Therefore, I hope they do find you._

_However, I can say that I won't tell anyone. I think it would cause more harm to me than to you if they knew. I'd be labelled a Death Eater as well. And I don't want that. Oh and nice touch, by the way, "love is a weakness". I don't know about you, but it seems to have gotten Potter pretty far! But then again, you're just a coward._

_Astoria G._

Astoria looked at the letter with a smile on her face. Perhaps mentioning Potter was a bit too much, but it would make Draco furious and Astoria enjoyed the idea of him pacing in his room trying to prove to himself that he was better than Harry Potter. Not that Astoria even knew Harry Potter, or even liked him. In fact, she thought that sometimes his heroic acts were a bit over dramatic. And the way he had almost killed Draco had proved that he wasn't as good as people believed him to be. It made Astoria feel sick. The image of Draco lying in the hospital wing, all pale and weak made Astoria's heart ache.

Astoria stopped everything she was doing. Why did the idea of Draco getting hurt would make her heart ache? She didn't feel anything for him. Nothing but anger. He had killed Dumbledore! He could have been hurt! Or worse. Astoria felt like someone should slap her. What on earth was wrong with her? She shouldn't care whether or not Draco was dead!

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to make all the thoughts about Draco disappear. It didn't work. With a sigh she looked at the letter in her lap and with yet another sigh added a few lines.

_PS. If you ever decide to write to me or anyone else, don't use your own owl. They might follow it and find you. And then you'll be dead._

It didn't take many hours for Draco to receive the letter. It was once again brought by Astoria's owl. He read the letter several times, noticing that this time there was no sign of tears. Just like Astoria had hoped, mentioning Harry Potter made Draco furious. But then he saw the last line of text. He sat down to his bed and stared at the line for a moment. _They might follow it and find you._ He kept repeating the words in his mind.

Draco hadn't planned to write Astoria ever again, but suddenly he found himself sitting by his desk, writing a letter. Or what was at least supposed to be a letter. Soon enough, Draco found that he simply couldn't find anything else to say. Now there was only one problem. Whose owl was he going to borrow?

It was the morning of Dumbledore's funeral and Astoria was standing outside, breathing in the fresh air. It was a beautiful day. Then out of nowhere an owl flew to her. It wasn't Draco's, that much was sure. Astoria took the parchament from the owl and noticed that it contained only a single line of text.

_Worrying about me, Astoria? You shouldn't._

"Who are you worrying about?" asked a curious voice from behind her. Astoria turned around to find Daphne standing behind her back.

"What?", she managed to ask.

"The note says you're worrying about someone. Is it from that boy you won't tell me about?"

"No", Astoria said, "Of course not" She saw Theodore coming towards them. What did he want?

"Hey Theo, you're never going to believe me", Daphne said, "Astoria has a secret boyfriend" Astoria's eyes widened in horror. Why? Why did Daphne always have to be like this?

"Really?", Theodore asked with an amused look on his face. Daphne nodded and took the note from Astoria's hand.

"See what he wrote to her. Cute, isn't it?" Daphne said. Theodore stared at piece of parchment for a moment. Astoria could see that there was something bothering him. Had he recognized his friend's handwriting?

"Be careful who you start a relationship with, Astoria. Dragons tend to bite", Theodore said and handed the parchment to Astoria. Dragons tend to bite? What was that supposed to mean?

_**So, what did you think? I suggest you review and tell** **me, because unfortunately I can't read minds. Review!**_


	11. The Funeral

_**AN:**_ Thank you for everyone for the reviews, and for adding this story to their favourites and for following the story.

I suppose this chapter will show a bit of what's going on in Draco's and Astoria's heads. How well it succeeds in that, well that's up to you. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing at all

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><p>Astoria was doing the best she could to stop herself from crying. She had thought that attending Dumbledore's funeral was something she had to do. She sat in the back, not wanting to talk to anyone. She'd seen Potter along with his girlfriend Ginny Weasley and had seen the looks on both of their faces.<p>

Potter seemed crushed, yet ready for revenge. Ginny, on the other hand, looked like she knew that the bad news wouldn't end there.

Astoria wasn't surprised when she noticed how many wizards and witches had wished to say goodbye to Dumbledore. The thing that did surprise her, was the guilt that came everytime she looked at one of the other guests. She was as quilty as Draco when it came to Albus Dumbledore's death, yet no one really paid attention to her. She was just another Hogwarts student, crying because of the brutal death of her headmaster.

But in her heart Astoria knew that she should be blamed and it was something that she just couldn't take. Even though she had been trained to hide her emotions, she couldn't stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. Like so many times before, she felt helpless. There was nothing she could do. Nothing she could do to bring Dumbledore back. Like there had been nothing she could have done to stop Draco from killing him.

The funeral was beautiful. People cried, people smiled. It was very odd for Astoria to observe this since she was used to the Pureblood parties where no emotions were showed. Yet, during the funeral, she felt more at home than at any of the Pureblood parties. Like this was where she belonged. But she knew that she could never say that out loud.

Astoria slowly got up from her seat and headed back towards the castle when she heard someone familiar calling out for her. With a suprise Astoria realized who it was. Ginny Weasley.

"Hi", Astoria managed to say.

"Hi", Ginny said. They stood in silence for quite some time. Ginny and Astoria were not friends but they weren't enemies either. That was part of the reason why Astoria was rather alarmed when she saw the tears on Ginny's face.

"What hap...?" But Astoria didn't have the time to finish her questions before Ginny cut her off.

"Dumbledore. It's just wrong, he shouldn't have died", she said. Astoria saw instantly that Ginny was lying but decided not to mention it.

"I know. Everything's falling apart", Astoria muttered. She saw how Ginny nodded.

"I guess we all should've known that Snape was dangerous. He was a Death Eater after all. No one ever stops being a Death Eater", Ginny almost hissed. There were no words to describe Astoria shock, but like all Purebloods, she kept it well hidden.

"Snape? What do you mean Snape?"

"What? Haven't you heard? It was Snape who killed him! Who did you think killed Dumbledore?" Ginny asked in poorly covered shock.

"I thought...all the Slytherins...I thought Malfoy had something to do with it", Astoria nearly stuttered.

"Ha! Malfoy was too scared. It was Snape. It was Snape in the end", Ginny said. Suddenly someone called out for Ginny, and soon enough Astoria was standing face to face with Neville Longbottom.

Neville didn't say a word to Astoria. Instead he moved to stand between Astoria and Ginny, as if he were portecting Ginny. This move did not go unnoticed by Ginny who gave a small smile before saying:

"It's alright Neville. Astoria's alright" Neville looked at Astoria with suspicion before moving to stand next to Ginny. Astoria saw how sad he looked. It was clear that Dumbledore's death had both shocked and hurt him. He was injured too. It seemed that he'd fought againts the Death Eaters who Draco had summoned to Hogwarts. It made Astoria more guilty than ever.

"I'm Astoria Greengrass", Astoria said while holding her hand out for Neville to shake. It was the only thing she could come up with. Neville took Astoria's hand with hesitation and shook it.

"Neville Longbottom", he introduced himself. Of course Astoria already knew who he was. He had been involved in the Ministry business last spring. At the time, Astoria had thought that he was quite the hero. But that was something she'd never admit to anyone. Ever.

Astoria watched how Ginny and Neville headed towards the castle together and couldn't help but to feel a bit lonely. Life was different without Draco around. _No_, Astoria told herself, _don't go there. You feel nothing for him. He. Is. Nothing._

The Hogwarts Express felt somehow different. At least that's what Astoria thought. She sat alone in her compartment. There were many empty compartments since so many students had left before the funeral and the rest wanted to be with their friends. But since Astoria didn't really have any friends, she sat alone.

While looking at the view of fields passing by, Astoria couldn't help but to think if Hogwarts would change. Of course, it would be a different place without Dumbledore, but was that all? Would it still be safe? Would Hogwarts continue to be feel like the safest place on earth? Propably not.

Astoria felt hot tears streaming down her cheeks again. But this time, she wiped them off and made a decision. She wouldn't cry anymore. Not for anyone or anything. Astoria hated to admit it, but she was starting to believe Draco's words. Love is a weakness. After all, somehow it was always those who loved that got hurt.

Suddenly a thought crossed Astoria's mind. She quickly took her quill from the smaller bag she had packed. Astoria never put her quill and other important things in to her trunk, so she carried another, smaller bag with her. She also took some ink and a small piece of parchment from the bag.

_Why,_ she wrote,

_Why didn't you tell me that it wasn't you?_

Then, after writing the name Draco Malfoy on the other side of the parchment, she gave it to her owl, Gwen. Astoria opened the window and let her out. Even though the gap wasn't big, it was quite enough for a small owl like Gwen. Then, Astoria waited.

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><p>Draco felt his stomach turn as he saw a familiar owl coming to him. He was walking in the garden. It was the only place where he felt...peaceful. There was no one else there. Why would the other Death Eaters that frequently visited the house want to come to the garden? To look at all the pretty flowers? Not very likely.<p>

Draco stopped and the owl landed on his shoulder, offering him a small note. Why did Astoria have to continue to write? Didn't she understand that he didn't need her words. He didn't need to know how much she hated him. He didn't want to know.

With a sigh, Draco took the note. He expected it to be yet another letter telling him why he was a heartless coward or something similar to that. He was a little surprised when he saw only one sentence written on to the parchment. _Why didn't you tell me that it wasn't you?_ What was that supposed to mean. Why hadn't he told her that he hadn't...what?

"Bloody hell", Draco muttered to himself as he realized just what Astoria meant. Snape. He hadn't told her that it had been Snape who killed Dumbledore.

"Is something wrong?" Draco spun around to face his mother. Narcissa Malfoy didn't look quite as well as she used to. She had gotten paler, and like Draco, she had bags under her eyes. She hadn't slept well. But then again, who could sleep well in a house where Bellatrix Lestrange lived? Where Bellatrix tortured people?

"No", Draco told his mother, "Just a letter"

"From who? I thought none of your friends knew about your task", Narcissa said. She was concerned about her son. Draco had lost weight, and seemed paler and paler every day. Narcissa had also noticed that this was not the first letter Draco received after leaving Hogwarts. No, Narcissa had seen her son get very upset after reading one of these letters. She just didn't know who the letters were from.

"They don't. That's why they're sending letters and asking where I am. But don't worry mother, I've told them a lie that should satisfy their curiosity", Draco lied. He hated lying to his mother, but he couldn't really tell her that the letters were from Astoria Greengrass, could he?

Narcissa nodded. "Come inside Draco. Your father should be home soon", she said. Draco nodded and tried to smile at his mother but he wasn't very succesful. Of course he was happy that his father would finally be home from Azkaban, he just wasn't sure how his father would react when he heard about everything Draco had done. All his failed attempts to kill Dumbledore were something that Draco didn't want to discuss with his father.

Without another word, Narcissa walked back to the manor, leaving Draco with the letter from Astoria. He read it one more time and then put it in to the pocket of his coat where he kept all of Astoria's other letters. He didn't want anyone to find them, so he had decided to keep them as close to himself as possible. Although Draco hated to admit it, he sometimes read Astoria's letters before going to sleep. Even though Astoria's words were hurtful, they were the only connection he had to the outside world. He couldn't really leave the manor, since half of the auror department was looking for him, Snape and other known Death Eaters.

Draco went to the manor soon after his mother had left and was greeted by his aunt Bellatrix and to his surprise, his father. Lucius Malfoy looked horrible. Azkaban had obviously not been kind to him.

"Hello father", Draco said. Lucius nodded. Draco watched how his mother hugged his father and said something to him.

"Come Draco", she then said, "let's go to the library, we have plenty of things to discuss" Without any protest Draco followed his parents, forgetting all about Astoria's letter.

_**I hope you all liked this chapter. Tell me what you thought about it by posting a review. :)**_


	12. The Train

_**AN:**_Hopefully, you'll all like this chapter. I know I do. I don't know if there's anything more for me to say...oh, thank you for anyone who reviewed, followed and/or favorited this story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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><p>Astoria couldn't deny the fact that she was disappointed when no reply from Draco ever came. Weeks passed by, and Astoria started thinking that it had been a foolish thing to even send that letter.<p>

More weeks passed without anything extraordinary. Astoria's return to Hogwarts was getting closer and closer and to tell the truth, she didn't mind. She liked Hogwarts more than being at home. Usually, during the summers Astoria had helped in St Mungo's, one way or another. She would work for free, and do anything that they needed. She would clean the rooms, help organize some books and sometimes she even helped with the patients. Not the more dangerous ones, of course, but patients like the Longbottoms.

Astoria shivered at the thought. It had taken her quite some time to make the connection between the Longbottoms and Neville. Sure, she'd known that Neville lived with his grandmother but Astoria had never even dared to think that his parents were...were...well, that they were what they were. Of course, Astoria would never tell Neville how much she pitied him sometimes. No, that would be a sign of weakness and Astoria Greengrass was not weak. Or so she had decided.

Astoria had decided that once her sixth year in Hogwarts began, she wouldn't be afraid of anyone.

That thought stayed with Astoria until the day when she actually had to go to Hogwarts. Standing on the platform and staring at the train made Astoria heart beat louder than ever. Why? She didn't know.

With a sigh and a shake of her head, Astoria boarded the train. She was having a hard time with her trunk, which was quite heavy, while she looked for a compartment.

Just like she had thought, there weren't as many students going to Hogwarts as before. Of course Astoria had heard of the new muggle-born rules that the ministry had made up. Astoria thought that the new 'rules' were rather disgusting. How could the ministry claim that muggle-borns had stolen magic? Stealing magic wasn't even possible!

Suddenly Astoria stopped. One of the compartment doors which she had passed, had opened and someone had called her name. Astoria could only stare as Draco Malfoy marched to her, grabbed a hold of her trunk, and then a hold of her wrist and dragged both in to the compartment.

Astoria was silent as she took in the scene in front of her. There were other students already sitting in the compartment. Theodore Nott. Blaise Zabini. And a girl Astoria didn't recognize.

"Sit," Malfoy ordered. Astoria turned to face him with a murderous glare.

"I don't take orders from you. I sit when I want to sit and right now I don't feel like it," she hissed. Draco stared at her with a blank expression.

"You can stand if you want. Doesn't make a difference," he said and sat down next to Nott on to the right side of the compartment. The unknown girl and Zabini were sitting on the left side from where Astoria was standing.

"Why did you drag me here?" Astoria asked Draco, who was now reading the Daily Prophet.

"Because I wanted to," he said. Astoria raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Because you wanted to? Draco. I'm rather afraid that you've become obsessed with me," she said with a sweet smile. This made Draco put the Daily Prophet down.

"Sit down," he repeated his earlier order, "You're making a fool of yourself."

With a dramatic sigh, Astoria sat down next to the unknown girl. She could see how Zabini and Nott both flashed Draco a small smile. Then, the girl sitting next to Astoria, turned to her.

"Emma Travers," she said. She didn't hold her hand out for Astoria to shake, but Astoria had expected that.

"Astoria Greengrass," Astoria said with a small nod.

"I know," Emma Travers said, "Mister Malfoy here hasn't talked about anything else but you for the past ten minutes."

Draco slammed the Daily Prophet onto the empty seat next to him. The glare that he gave Emma would have probably given any normal person a heart attack, but as people who had seen worse glares and insults than what Malfoy had to offer, none of the people in the compartment looked anything more than amused. Then, Astoria noticed that a few people were missing.

"Where are Crabbe and Goyle? I thought they followed you everywhere," Astoria said. Then she gasped. "Oh my...Where's Pansy?"

"Crabbe and Goyle went to sit in to the compartment next to this one, because if they'd been here, there wouldn't have been any room for you. And what comes to Pansy..."

"You got bored of the two faced cow? Good for you," Astoria cut him off. Zabini and Emma laughed at Astoria's obvious dislike for Pansy.

"True. I have gotten bored, but I actually haven't seen her yet," Draco said.

"Surprising", said Nott, speaking for the first time, "She usually follows you around with a pack of giggling girls."

"Well, while we're talking about giggling girls, I might as well ask if anyone of you has seen my sister?" Astoria asked. Everyone in the compartment shook their heads.

Suddenly, Emma grabbed Astoria's arm and whispered:

"I think Pansy's coming. Let's make her a bit jealous shall we?" Astoria grinned at Emma. She was starting to actually like this girl.

Astoria stood up and glanced out of the door. Pansy was walking straight towards the compartment.

"Don't even think about leaving. I need to talk to you," Draco said when he noticed Astoria opening the compartment door a little.

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere yet," Astoria said. She quickly sat down next to Draco so that her legs were now in his lap. She had no idea where she had gotten the courage to pull that off, or how she had had the nerve to stand up against Draco.

Meanwhile, Emma had laid down, so that her head was now in Zabini's lap. There was literally no extra room in the compartment.

Just when Draco had placed his hands on Astoria's legs in order to push them away, Pansy opened the door. Everyone froze, including Pansy who was staring at Draco's hands which were still on Astoria's legs. Both Astoria and Emma were doing everything in their power not to laugh at Pansy's shocked expression. Pansy cleared her throat.

"I just came to see if there was any room in here. I'm tired of Daphne and Tracey. Sometimes I think that they really are as daft as Crabbe and Goyle," she said. Astoria's blood boiled as Pansy insulted her sister. What gave her the idea that anyone else except for Astoria had any right to insult Daphne Greengrass?

"So my sister's with Tracey Davis?" Astoria asked from no one in particular.

"Yes. They're in the same compartment with some other Slytherin purebloods. Maybe you'd like to join them," Pansy suggested. Astoria gave Draco a meaningful look that asked if he was okay with it. After all, he had said that he didn't want her to leave.

"Greengrass is staying," Emma said. Everyone in the compartment nodded, even Draco. Pansy gave one last look at Draco, who now slowly took his hands off of Astoria's legs, sending, for some reason, shivers down her spine.

"Right," Pansy said and left the compartment. When she had gone, Astoria removed her legs from Draco's lap, but since it didn't seem like Emma was moving anywhere, Astoria still had to sit next to him.

"That wasn't a nice thing to do Greengrass," Draco said.

"Maybe I'm not a nice person," Astoria replied. For first time in months, Draco smirked.

"I see," he said, "We need to talk about something Greengrass."

"And what would that be?" Astoria asked, now sitting a bit further away from Draco.

"You can't tell anyone about last spring. You knew and saw nothing. Do you understand?" he said. Astoria pretended to be confused.

"Last spring? I don't recall anything special about last spring. Dumbledore died, but that's it. Nothing else happened," Astoria said. Draco nodded, approving Astoria's lie.

"And Dumbledore? Who killed him?" Blaise Zabini suddenly asked. Astoria frowned slightly.

"I don't know. Snape probably. That's what everyone says. But then again, it's just a rumour. There's a lot of rumours going around," she said. Blaise and Draco nodded again.

Soon enough, Blaise and Emma started talking rather loudly. They were arguing over some little matter that Astoria wasn't interested in. What she was interested in, was talking to Draco.

"I suppose I'm not telling anyone about the letters. Although you should know not to mention them to my sister. She's under the impression that they're from a secret boyfriend," Astoria whispered just loud enough for Draco to hear. He was reading some potions book.

"Yes. We shouldn't mention them," he said. Astoria nodded and rested her head against the compartment wall. She pulled her knees against her chest and sighed. She felt tired. Her eyes were slowly closing and there was nothing she could do about it. The last thing she saw before falling asleep, was a glimpse of a white envelope in Draco's inside pocket.

_Astoria's standing in a compartment on a train. It doesn't look like the Hogwarts Express and the train doesn't seem to be moving. She opens the compartment door and looks around. There is no one to be seen. Everyone has vanished. She's steps out to investigate the other compartments, but a hand suddenly grabs her wrist._

_"Where are you going?" someone asks. Astoria turns around, and sees that Draco is the one who still has a hold of her wrist._

_"What are you doing?" she asks, too surprised to be confused. Draco is standing so close to her, that she can feel his breath. His lips are so close to hers that she can almost feel it._

_"Wake up", he hisses._

Astoria woke up as someone shook her.

"The train's stopping. Wake up," a voice hissed. It didn't sound offensive, more like the speaker was getting tired of trying to wake her up. Astoria opened her eyes in shock, only to see Draco Malfoy's grey eyes staring into her own blue ones.

"Finally", Draco said. Astoria pushed a strand of her brown hair off of her face and stared at him. She was too shocked because of her dream to even think about a proper response.

"Why?" Astoria suddenly asked herself.

"Why what?" Emma asked. For a moment Astoria was shocked again as she realized that she'd said that out loud.

"Why", Astoria repeated, "Why do you have to be such a git?! Isn't it enough that you seem to stalk me in real life? Do you have to plague my dreams too?"

Draco smiled at her for a moment.

"You dreamed about me?" he then asked. Astoria felt like slapping him.

"Yes. You intruded my personal space," she said. This made Draco smile even wider.

"Really? I never realized you had dreams like that about me," he said. This time Astoria punched his shoulder.

"I don't! And make sure that nothing like that ever happens in real life, because if it does, I'll curse you in to oblivion."

Astoria had assumed that once she was out of the train and in the Great Hall, Malfoy along with his more than questionable friends would leave her alone. She'd been wrong.

Astoria walked in to the Great Hall and tried to sit down at the furthest end of the table, but someone grabbed her arm and started dragging her towards the other end. She was rather surprised when she saw that it wasn't Draco, but Emma Travers.

"What do you people want?" Astoria hissed. Emma showed Astoria where to sit and then sat down next to her

"This year," she said, "things are going to be a little different. We need people around us that we can trust. Nott brought me to that compartment, you know. He said that we were all in this together because our parents were in this together. I know for a fact that the Malfoys aren't doing well, and neither are my parents. Zabini asked who else could be trusted and then Draco went away and came back with you. So what do you say? Will you stick with us, or will you be on your own?"

Astoria thought about Emma's words for a moment.

"I'm in. But don't think for a second that I'm taking orders from Malfoy. He's a git and we both know it," she said. Emma nodded,

"I'm not expecting you to take orders. I don't know if they'll bring someone else, but one thing has to be clear. No one gets in to any sort of trouble. Deal?" she said. This time Astoria nodded.

"Deal"

Astoria then turned to look at the table where the teachers sat. There were two teachers that Astoria didn't recognize.

"Death Eaters," she heard Theodore Nott say. Nott was sitting opposite her, while Malfoy came to sit next to her.

"Stay out of their way, will you Astoria?" Draco whispered to her once everyone had turned to look at Snape, "You're not stupid, so don't get yourself killed." Astoria turned to look at him and for a moment she could see something like tenderness in his eyes.

"That's what this year's going to be all about, isn't it? Not getting yourself killed," she whispered in a sad voice. Draco nodded. Their hands were resting so closely under that table that Astoria could feel the warmth of Draco's hand.

The thought of holding hands never even crossed her mind. The warmth of Draco's hand close to hers was enough. For now.

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	13. Homework And A Talk

_**A.N:**_** First of all, thank you for all of you who reviewed. **I have to say that this chapter was a difficult one to write, I actually had to re-write it.

Oh, by the way, you should all go see my other (very much smaller) story: The House of Serpents.

Without any more words...here is chapter 13

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Astoria sat in the common room, a potions book in her lap. Slughorn had decided to give his students a ridiculous amount of homework, considering that it was their first week back at Hogwarts. Many things had changed. Snape was the headmaster, so obviously some of the classes were a bit different.

Muggle studies, or the 'Muggles-Are-Filth-Lessons' as Astoria liked to call them, were now mandatory for everyone. Professor Carrow's idea of teaching was keeping long speeches about how muggles were nothing and wizards should rule the world and other rubbish like that.

Defence Againts the Dark Arts was really just Dark Arts, where the other Professor Carrow taught spells and curses that the students might want to use, once they decided to join the Death Eaters. But as far as Astoria knew, no student had become a Death Eater after Draco. _'Oh yes, he's one of a kind'_, she thought to herself.

Astoria glanced to the other side of the common room where Draco sat with Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini and Parkinson. Oh yes, Pansy Parkinson. How he could even stand Pansy, was completely beyond Astoria. As far as she was concerned, Pansy was a cow and an idiot.

"I see you noticed too, huh", a voice said beside Astoria. As she turned her head, she saw that Emma Travers was now sitting next to her in another armchair.

"Yes", Astoria answered simply. Emma just nodded.

"I hear Pansy wants to get back together with him", she said. Astoria raised her eyebrows but turned back to her book.

"I never realized that they had broken up", she said. To her great surprise, Emma laughed. She actually laughed.

"Oh yeah. They did brake up. And as far as I know, you were the reason why"

Astoria froze in her seat.

"What do you mean I was the reason why? There was never anything between me and Malfoy! Who told you something like that?" she asked. Astoria turned to Emma who was by now smiling widely.

"No one. I figured it out myself. It's really not a secret that he's attracted to you. I'm sure that Zabini makes jokes about it all the time", Emma said, still smiling.

"I forgot how close you and Blaise were. Are you sure that there's nothing going on? Say, a romance for example?" Astoria teased. She laughed as all the colour on Emma's face vanished.

"No! I'm not attracted to Blaise Zabini! He's...He's...He's a player! I hate players! Nott on the other hand..." Emma trailed off. Both of the girls turned to look at one of the other corners of the common room, where Theodore Nott sat on a chair reading a book that most likely had something to do with the Dark Arts.

"He's mysterious, isn't he? He's never belonged to any gang or anything. He has friends, like Malfoy but yet he always seems to be sitting alone", Astoria said. She wasn't interested in Theodore Nott, but she could see why some girls were.

"Isn't he dating your sister?" Emma asked. Astoria shook her head slowly.

"I'm not sure. Daphne and I don't really talk about guys, but I guess they're still together", she said. Suddenly someone cleared his throat next to Astoria. Both Astoria and Emma turned to look at the guy. It was John Avery, a Slytherin in Astoria's year. Astoria had sometimes talked to him since he happened to be, just like Astoria, rather good in potions. They'd talked about different potions and their effects and often competed of who was the best potioneer.

"Hi", John said, seeming somewhat nervous.

"Hi", Astoria said.

"Are you doing your potions homework?" John asked. Then before Astoria had time to reply, he said: "By the way, I was wondering if you'd join me in the library some day. You know, so we could study"

"Study what?" Astoria asked.

"Potions. Transfiguration. Anything you want", he said. Astoria nodded her head slowly.

"Sure. When?"

"How about tomorrow? I'll see you at...", John never had the time to finish his sentence because someone hit him with a book. A bloody thick book at that. After the book had hit him, John fell literally in to Astoria's lap. Astoria tried to get up, but ended up smashing her knee on to John's face.

"Are you alright?" she asked as John laid on the floor.

"Does it look like I'm alright?" he asked. Astoria frowned a little. Why were Slytherin guys always so rude? Couldn't they, just for once, be nice? So instead of helping John up from the floor, Astoria turned to see where exactly the book had come from. It didn't take her long to realize that there were only a few people in the common room who could have done it, and they were all sitting together.

Grabbing the book which had so painfully hit John, Astoria marched up to Draco Malfoy and dropped the book on to his lap just as Pansy was about to put her head there.

"Merlin, Greengrass! What is wrong with you?" Malfoy exclaimed. Astoria managed to keep a straight face even though she was burning with the desire to laugh at Malfoy's expression.

"It's a very thick book, isn't it?" she said. Draco turned the book around in his hands and at that moment Astoria was sure that he had been the one to throw it.

"Yes, it does seem like a book that would be quite painful if it were to hit you on the head", he said. This time Astoria couldn't stop herself from laughing.

"So you admit that you were the one who threw the book at my friend, huh? How stupid are you?" she asked. At this Malfoy turned around and stared at her.

"'How stupid?' I don't think there was anything stupid about this. I wasn't the one who threw the book", he said. Astoria raised an eyebrow at him. He didn't seriously think that she'd believe him, right?

"Draco's right", Pansy suddenly announced, "I was the one who threw the book. But I missed"

"You missed", Astoria repeated, then, with a much more threatening tone she continued: "Listen to me Parkinson. Try to do anything like that ever again, and you won't have a hand to throw anything with"

There was a small 'oh' in the growd surrounding them. Malfoy, Zabini, Crabbe, Goyle and some other students were staring at Astoria and Pansy as if they were waiting for a fight. Now even Theodore and Emma had appeared.

"Astoria? Is something wrong?" Daphne's voice suddenly asked from behind Astoria.

"No", Astoria told her sister. There was no need to drag her sister in to this.

And with that, Astoria stormed to the dormitories. She was tired of the Slytherins. All of them. Pansy, Draco, Blaise, Theodore, even her own sister. They all thought that everything was going so well, even though there was a war raging outside Hogwarts. A war that would sooner or later find its way to the school and to its students.

Astoria buried her head to her pillow and decided that she'd just go to sleep early. It was friday, so no one would mind. But just as she was about to go and change her clothes, there was a knock on the door. It was Grace, one of the girls who Astoria shared the dormitory with.

Astoria had observed Grace once and seen that Grace reminded her of Pansy. She was a bit bossy and wasn't that scared of others. Astoria also knew that Grace was a part of Pansy's circle of friends who all had or had had a cruch on Malfoy at some point.

This time though, Grace seemed different. She seemed nervous, frightened even.

"Astoria", she said. Astoria turned to stare at Grace and for a moment she was afraid that Grace was in trouble with the Carrows and had come to her for help.

"What is it?" Astoria asked.

"Draco- I mean Malfoy wants to see you", Grace said. Astoria scoffed. So that's why Grace was so nervous. Draco Malfoy had come to talk to her.

"Well, you can tell him that I don't want to see him. Or actually, tell him I'm dead. Or if you want to be really nice to me, you can go and tell him to go cry to his mummy!" Astoria nearly shrieked the last words. Grace looked positively livid.

"You want me to t-tell him that you're d-dead and that he should g-go and cry to his mother?" she whispered. Astoria simply nodded.

"If that's not too much trouble" With her mouth slightly open and her face looking very pale, Grace left the dormitories.

Astoria smiled widely at the thought of Draco hearing her words. He would be furious. After pondering for a moment, Astoria decided that she wouldn't go to sleep just yet. She wanted to know if Draco would send Grace back.

After a minute or two had passed, Grace returned.

"Well? What did he say?" Astoria asked her, smiling widely while she did.

"He said that he didn't care if you were dead and that he doesn't cry, especially not for or because of you. He also said that if you don't come and talk to him, he'll get someone to drag you out", Grace said.

With a sigh Astoria decided that it was time to give up. She knew for a fact that Draco never would. Slowly she got up from her bed and walked out of the dormitories. As she closed the door she thought she heard Grace let out a sigh of relief.

Draco was there the second Astoria got back to the common room.

"You wanted to talk to me?" she asked. Draco nodded and told her to follow him. Astoria did as she was told and let Draco lead her out of the common room and to one of the upper floors of Hogwarts, in to an empty classroom.

"What did you want to say?" she asked as Draco closed the door behind them. He walked up to her so that they were standing face to face.

"First: I like the way you used Grace for your insults. Second: I think you really shouldn't pick up a fight with Pansy", he said. Astoria's eyes widened a bit.

"This is what you wanted to talk about? You just wanted to tell me to stay away from your girlfriend?"

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Draco nearly yelled. Then noticing that Astoria had nearly had a heart attack because of his sudden rage, he continued with a softer tone: "I'm telling you this because I think that the Carrows haven't noticed you yet. But if they do...If they see that you're better at duelling than most seventh years, have the guts to go up to someone like Pansy and threaten her, it's only a matter of time before they ask you to come up and perform an unforgivable or worse, join the Death Eaters. Let me tell you, you wouldn't make it alive through the first day as a Death Eater"

Astoria nodded even though she was a bit confused. Why did Malfoy even care?

"So you want me to stay out of their sight. Invisible", she said. Draco nodded.

"Anything else?" Astoria asked with a small smile. The ridiculousness of the situation had just hit her. She was standing in an empty class room with Draco Malfoy, a Death Eater, who was telling her what to do so that she wouldn't have to join the Dark Lord.

"No..." Draco said. Then suddenly the door opened with a loud crack.

"What do you think you're...oh", said a voice at the door. Astoria could feel all the colour leaving her face as she stared at the face of professor Alecto Carrow.

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	14. Private Matters

_**AN:**_ I want to thank everyone who has reviewed this (and The House Of Serprents) and everyone who has followed or added it to their favourites. Keep it going.

Now this chapter doesn't have that much action in it. It's really just (another) peek in to the relationship (or friendship or whatever it is at this point) of Draco and Astoria. If you find the chapter boring because of that, then I am sorry and promise to put more action in to the next one. I also apologize for any grammar mistakes.

Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing. Never have and unfortunately, never will.

* * *

><p><em>"What do you think you're...oh", said a voice at the door. Astoria could feel all the colour leaving her face as she stared at the face of professor Alecto Carrow.<em>

There was a moment of silence while professor Carrow took in the sight in front of her.

"Well well. I think you ought to explain yourselves", she said. Astoria opened her mouth but closed it again because she felt that nothing would come out even if she'd try to talk. Draco on the other seemed to be more prepared for a situation like this.

"We are here because of...personal...matters", he said. Even if professor Carrow didn't notice, Astoria could hear the nervousness behind Draco's voice. He knew they were in trouble.

"Personal matters? And what are these personal matters you speak of?" Alecto Carrow asked with a small, yet terrifying smile on her face.

Draco stared at his feet and said nothing. Astoria was too busy trying to figure out how exactly she'd even gotten herself in to this situation to notice that professor Carrow had taken a step closer to them.

"Ah. I see. Am I to presume that you and miss...I don't believe I know your name. Look at me. What is your name?" professor Carrow asked. Astoria turned to look straight at Alecto's face and said with a loud and clear voice:

"Astoria Greengrass"

"Greengrass? Is that so?", professor Carrow seemed genuinely surprised by Astoria's statement, but the shock soon vanished as professor Carrow continued with her previous sentence.

"So, mister Malfoy. What you are saying is that you and miss Greengrass here, were out of your dormitories to solve some personal matters? How did you get out?"

"We walked out, professor. Draco- I mean Malfoy wanted to talk to me", Astoria said. Alecto raised her eyebrows at this.

"Well, that's certainly something. Tell me, mister Malfoy, do your parents know of your _personal _matters with miss Greengrass? Or have I understood the situation wrong?"

"I'm not quite sure what you mean, professor. I asked Astoria to come and talk with me because I was concerned that she was making some wrong choices when it came to the people she considers friends", Draco said. For the first time after professor Carrow's appearance, Astoria turned to look at him. What was he doing?

Professor Carrow kept looking at Astoria and then Draco. She was trying to figure whether they were lying or telling the truth. Of course, a small amount of Verita serum would've solved that question for her, but Alecto Carrow wasn't one of the smartest witches around.

"May I go, professor? I'm rather tired", Astoria asked. Professor Carrow nodded.

"Make sure this will not happen again. This time I will let you leave because I am certain that mister Malfoy had good reasons for wanting to talk to you", she said. Astoria nodded and left the room.

"You may also go", professor Carrow told Draco, who practically ran out of the class room.

Astoria was trying to go as fast as she could, so that Draco wouldn't have the change to catch up with her. But, as usual, Draco found her.

"Great job, Greengrass. I told you to keep a low profile and you go and shout your name at the Carrows", Draco said as he reached Astoria. They were now walking side by side, at least until Astoria stopped and glared at him.

"First of all: there was only one Carrow in the room, so don't say 'the Carrows'. Second: you're the one who ruined everything. _'Personal matters?'_ You've made them think that we're seeing each other! And believe me, the last thing I want, is that someone comes up to me and asks: 'Hey, are you with Draco Malfoy?'" Astoria hissed. Draco looked positively shocked by her words.

"They don't think that we're dating", he said.

"Oh really? Then why did she ask if you'd told your parents about me and our 'personal matters'?"

Draco was quiet for a moment. He stared at Astoria, noticing for the first time that she wasn't that bad looking. But, because he was Draco Malfoy, there was no way he'd ever tell that to Astoria.

"You're really annoying", he said instead. Astoria's eyes widened and she took a step closer.

"I'm annoying? Then why in the name of Merlin's pants are you even here?!" the last words came out as a shriek and for a moment Draco was scared for his dear life. For a flashing moment, Astoria's dark hair and even darker tone of voice, reminded Draco of his dear aunt Bellatrix.

"I have no idea. But don't worry. I won't bother you anymore. Get killed if you want. I don't care", he said once he'd cleared his mind. And then, like so many times before, he just left. He simply turned around and walked away, leaving Astoria standing in the middle of the cold corridor.

Draco marched up to the Slytherin dormitories and sat on his bed. His mind was spinning. He hadn't meant to yell at Astoria like that, but he didn't regret it. She had deserved it, right? She was a stupid little girl. Barely even sixteen! At this thought Draco stopped for a moment. Had Astoria turned sixteen already? But that thought somehow made him even angrier. Why did he care if he'd missed her birthday?

They weren't dating! There were so many annoying sides in Astoria. She wasn't afraid of insulting him like she should have been. She befriended the wrong crowd. And even her bloodline wasn't the purest, even if everyone thought so. Draco was one of the few people to know a thing or two about the purity of the Greengrass bloodline. It had turned out, that Astoria and Daphne's grandmother was a half blood.

Being a half blood wasn't that bad, but Draco couldn't stand how everyone thought that the Greengrasses were a part of the pureblood elite. They weren't! Or at least they weren't supposed to be. That was a part of the reason why Draco had never really cared for Daphne or Astoria.

_'Sure, Daphne looks a lot better than Astoria', _Draco thought. Daphne had inherited her mother's light hair and beautiful looks, while Astoria's hair was very dark and it usually covered her face so that no one could really tell whether or not Astoria was as beautiful as her sister. Astoria was also smaller than her sister, which was why Draco had never really noticed her.

"Something wrong?" came a deep voice from one of the other beds. Draco hadn't expected anyone else to be there, since most of the Slytherins were still in the common room. But as he turned to look, he saw Theodore lying on his own bed with a book in his hand. It appared that he hadn't bothered to stop reading the book.

"No", Draco answered as he laid down on his own bed.

"So you didn't fight with Astoria?" Theodore asked. This made Draco glance at him. It was odd how Theodore always seemed to know what was going on even though he rarely talked to anyone.

"No"

"It amazes me how easily Slytherins lie" Theodore mused, still not turning away from his book.

"Well it doesn't amaze me. So what if I fought with Astoria? It doesn't matter. She's not my bloody wife! I don't have to worry about fighting with her!" Draco said. He could practically see Theodore smiling behind his stupid book.

"Why does it bother you then? Why does it bother you that she might end up hating you?" Theodore asked. Draco was silent for a moment. Even though Theodore and he weren't great friends, Theodore could still give some good advice from time to time. Somehow, Theodore understood Draco's situation. Both of their fathers had been sent to Azkaban after the Ministry fiasco. The only difference in their lives was that Draco had become a Death Eater and that unlike Theodore's, Draco's mother was still alive.

"It doesn't bother me", Draco eventually said, "Why would it?" This time Theodore set down his book.

"You've never even thought about it, have you?" he asked. Draco frowned at this. He was starting to feel more curious instead of being angry.

"Thought about what?" Draco asked.

"What it would be like if you were with Astoria. I don't want to upset you but believe me: you two are like mirror images of each other. You sort of...complete each other. She thinks before she does anything, while you work first and think afterwards", Theodore said thoughtfully.

"You sound like a Gryffindor, Theodore. Complete each other...pfft. She hates me, I hate her. It's simple and I intend to keep it that way", Draco had a certain finality in his voice. Like he would have made an important decision and was happy with his choice.

"I'll remind you about those words later. We'll see what you say then", Theodore said with a small smile.

"You mean if we don't all die this year", Draco said quietly. Then, changing the subject he asked: "Wait a moment! Are you still dating the other Greengrass? Daphne?"

"No. We broke up over the summer. It turned out that she wasn't quite my type. Our relationship reminded me of you and Pansy and I don't want to end up like that", Theodore said and took his book from the table where he'd placed it.

Deciding that Theodore didn't have any more interesting things to say, Draco returned to the common room. There he found Blaise and Pansy sitting next to a fireplace.

"Draco! Where have you been? I was concerned about you" Pansy said as Draco sat down next to her. Or not quite next to her but close enough for Pansy to think that he was there to see her.

When Draco didn't respond to Pansy's question, Pansy decided to take matters in to her own hands. So she got up and sat back down right next to Draco. Draco didn't have time to do anything else but stare when Pansy grabbed his hand.

They both turned around when they heard someone laugh behind them. Draco's mouth hung slightly open as he stared at the person who had laughed. Astoria.

"What's your problem Greengrass? Are you jealous?" Pansy asked. This caused Astoria to laugh even more.

"Don't worry. I'm not jealous. But I wish both of you good luck. You'll need it", she said. But even though Astoria was smirking, Draco could see that she was a little hurt. Why? He wasn't sure. Like he'd said before: they weren't together. But why was he feeling guilty then? Why did Draco feel as if Astoria had poured a bucket of ice cold water all over him.

Quickly Draco pulled his hand aways from Pansy's. Pansy looked offended but Draco couldn't have cared less. He was done. He was done with Pansy. He didn't need her. He never had. But did he need Astoria? Well that, was an entirely different question.

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	15. Merry Christmas

**AN: **So, even though this chapter is late, a bit short and a bit meaningless, I still hope you like it.

The next chapter will propably cover a longer period of time because at this rate, this story will end up having a million chapters. :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nooooothing. Even if I wanted to.

Weeks had passed since Carrow had surprised Draco and Astoria in the classroom. Weeks that hadn't been easy on Astoria. She'd done everything she could, to avoid Draco which had caused her to spend too much time around Gryffindors. Or at least enough time, so that people like Theodore and Emma had noticed it.

"What do you think you're doing?" Emma came up to ask Astoria one day. Astoria looked slowly up from her book.

"What do you mean what I'm doing?" she asked. Emma just stared at her for a moment.

"You're joking, right? You're not sulking because you and Malfoy had a little fight, right?! Couples fight all the time, it's completely..."

"WE'RE NOT A COUPLE", Astoria hissed. Emma took a step back as if she was a bit frightened.

"I just thought..."

"Well, you thought wrong!", Astoria really wasn't in a good mood. Since the little Carrow incident, people had started to think that there really was something going on between Draco and Astoria and to Astoria's great amazement, Draco had done nothing to stop these rumours. He'd even broken things off with Pansy, which under normal circumstances wouldn't have bothered Astoria, but now it just made it seem as if he'd left Pansy for her. Which was not true. Sort of.

Draco knew (and Astoria guessed) that Astoria really was the reason for things not going well between him and Pansy. After Draco and Astoria had had their fight, Draco had attempted to talk to her, but Astoria had always ran away or been busy with homework. Pansy, on the other hand, was always clinging to him as if he was her personal pet or something. Always smoothing his hair and trying to hold his hand and Draco couldn't stand it.

After a few weeks Draco had given up on trying to talk to Astoria. Instead, he'd made sure that she didn't get in to any more trouble. This was why he, Theodore and Blaise had had a...talk with John Avery.

The contents of this talk are and were not that important but the basic message was clear: 'Stay the hell away from Astoria, or you'll get hurt'. Draco might have also suggested the use of some more or less illegal curses, if John would try to tell Astoria anything about their little talk. For this reason, John had avoided Draco, Theodore, Blaise and Astoria ever since.

It was a few weeks until Christmas and Astoria found herself standing outside the Hogwarts Castle breathing in the fresh air. It was cold, but that didn't bother her. Actually, the cold weather was her favourite thing about winter. But right now, her air was ruined by the presence of one Daphne Greengrass.

"Why are you here?" Astoria asked her sister.

"How do you know the Carrows?" Daphne asked. Astoria frowned a little.

"I don't"

"Oh, well, then I'm sure that there's another reason for why they know you. Today, when I performed a spell in The Dark Arts class, they asked my name and I, naturally, told them that I was Daphne Greengrass. Guess what Amucys Carrow said! "So you're Astoria's older sister!"", Daphne was almost yelling at this point.

"I don't see the problem here. I go to The Dark Arts class myself, you know. Everyone does. Maybe he just already knew my name from the class and then made the connection", Astoria suggested. The look on Daphne's face wasn't difficult to read. She didn't believe a word Astoria was saying.

"Does this have something to do with Malfoy?" she suddenly asked. For a moment, Astoria stood frozen, but then her face was suddenly filled with anger.

"Bloody Merlin! Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy. Are you people in love with him, or something?" she screamed and stormed off. Daphne just stood there for a moment, not quite understanding what had happened.

Astoria stormed in to the common room, and sat on to the couch.

"Stupid, idiotic morons!" she yelled. There was no one in the common room. Most of the Slytherins were either in the Great Hall or outside. Some even had classes.

"Would you mind being quiet for a moment, I'm trying to read", a familiar voice drawled. Astoria's head snapped to the direction of the voice.

"Oh great! It's you. The cause of all my problems", she hissed as she saw Draco sitting on an armchair, reading a very thick-looking book.

"I'm flattered. Now can you go away?" he said, without even looking up from his book.

Astoria didn't say anything. Instead she simply lay down on the couch and looked up at the ceiling.

"Have you ever wondered what would happen if the ceiling crashed. We're under a lake, you know", she said more to herself than Draco.

"No, I haven't thought about it. But I suppose we'd both die", Draco replied. His tone wasn't bored like Astoria had expected it to be. Instead it seemed that he didn't mind talking to her.

"I suppose that wouldn't be so bad. I reckon half of us are going to die anyway", Astoria said rather loudly. There was a loud sound of the book falling to the ground as Draco moved from the chair.

"Listen to me", he said, pulling Astoria up so that she was now sitting, "Don't say anything like that again. If the Carrows hear you...if anyone hears you...well, you don't want that. Alright? We don't need anyone to think that you don't believe that the Dark Lord will win"

Astoria stared at Draco for a moment as he sat down next to her.

"We? I didn't know that there was a 'we'", she said. Draco seemed to be a bit confused about this statement, so Astoria decided to change the subject.

"What...um...what were you reading?" she asked. Draco wallked back to the chair and picked up his book.

"Potions", he said.

"You're really into potions, aren't you? Reading about potions and last year..." there was an awkward silence hanging in the air as Astoria realized what she had been about to say. Draco was also silent.

"I don't like potions", Astoria whispered to herself.

"What do you like then?" There are no words to describe Astoria's shock as she heard Draco ask this. She had never thought, not for a second, that he could even care. That he was capable of caring about someone other than himself.

"Healing, I suppose", Astoria answered in a whisper, still feeling rather surprised, "I've always wanted to be a Healer. My dad works in St. Mungo's"

They were sitting so close to each other that Astoria could literally feel the heat coming off of Draco's body. For some reason, it seemed strangely tempting. Slowly, Astoria turned to look at him and she noticed how grey his eyes really were.

Meanwhile, Draco's mind was screaming at him. _Don't do it you fool! Don't do it! Do not kiss her! You don't want to kiss her! Why would you want to kiss her? Well, I suppose she's pretty and she's smart and she's-STOP!_

Then, deciding to listen to his brain Draco got up, picked up his book from the ground and sat back down on to the armchair and opened his book. Astoria took this as a sign that he no longer wanted to talk. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. She was hated how he was talking to her one second and ignoring her the next. But she could also understand his position. He was a Death Eater. He couldn't care about people. He couldn't be seen talking to someone like Astoria, that would ruin everything that he had ever worked for.

_'Not that he's ever worked for anything',_ Astoria thought to herself as she left the common room.

A few more weeks passed and it was time for the traditional Christmas Holidays. Astoria, along with her sister who didn't want to be seen with her, went to spend the Christmas with their father. The Greengrasses weren't the wealthiest family in Britain, but they lived comfortably enough. They had a great Christmas meal and then went to open their gifts.

Astoria got a necklace from her sister and some galleons from her father. But when she went to her bedroom later that night, she found a package on her bed. It was wrapped in paper and there were words written on the wrapping.

_For healing, you need potions._

Astoria stared at the writing for a moment before opening the package. There was a book inside. _50 potions for healing._ Astoria stared at it in shock. It wasn't possible. He couldn't have sent her a gift! It was simply impossible.

But yet it was so very clear. The handwriting was his, she'd told him she wanted to be a healer and he had been the one reading a potions book. It had to be from Draco. But why in Merlin's name would he send her a gift?

Slowly, Astoria opened the book. There were words on the first page:

_Dearest Astoria,_

_I sincerely hope that this helps you to achieve your dream._

_Merry Christmas,_

_- Draco Malfoy_

_**Review?**_


	16. Decisions

_**AN:**_I'm sorry it took so long to write this chapter, but I literally realized that only a few days ago. I was surfing online when I realized that I hadn't even begun to write the next chapter. But either way, I hope you like this. I hope it shows a different sort of side to Astoria and to what the war is doing to people. I also hope that I'll remember to update a little faster next time. Review, and tell me if this was worth the wait.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Astoria was sitting on the train back to Hogwarts. She had decided to not go and sit with the other Slytherins, such as Blaise and Theodore, and had gone to sit alone instead. Just like so many times before.

Astoria hadn't sent Draco a letter or anything to let him know that she had indeed received his gift. To tell the truth she was still quite shocked that Draco had even considered to give her anything. The words that were written on the first page were the ones that bothered her the most. _I sincerely hope you achieve your dream._ Since when had Draco Malfoy cared about anyone achieving anything? And he certainly didn't care about dreams. He wasn't supposed to!

But at the same time, Astoria, who knew a lot about healing and diseases, thought that maybe the gift was a cry for help. Maybe Draco was so alone that he didn't know what else to do. That thought alone made Astoria feel rather cold inside. Was it possible that Draco had attempted to be nice for the first time in his life, and she had so cruelly rejected him?

With a shake of her head, Astoria turned around to watch the passing countryside. Then suddenly the door to her compartment opened. Astoria turned around, half expecting it to be Draco, only to see that it was Emma.

"What are you doing?" Astoria asked. Emma just smiled and sat down opposite her.

"So, what's got you and mister Malfoy fighting? He seemed rather unsurprised that you weren't in our compartment", Emma said. Astoria stared at the girl in front of her for a moment. Emma was a year younger than her and even though she didn't know her that well, Astoria felt that Emma could be trusted. As much as you could trust a Slytherin in general.

"He sent me a gift"

Emma's eyes widened to a point where Astoria was convinced that she had to be in pain. It took a great while for Emma to compose herself. She leaned back to the seat and stared at Astoria for a moment.

"What sort of a gift?"

"A book about healing. I told him once that I wanted to be a healer, but that I hated potions and he sent me a book called _50 potions for healing_", Astoria explained. Again, Emma said nothing. She seemed to be considering the information.

"What did you tell him?" she then asked.

"Nothing", Astoria answered, "I didn't send him a letter, I didn't talk to him, I haven't even seen him after that. I've just acted as if it didn't even happen" This time Emma leaned forward and stared at her in the eye.

"Astoria. There's only so long that you can continue that. At some point you're going to have to face him", she said. Astoria nodded. Emma leaned back in her seat again and turned to look outside. The girls were both quiet for quite some time before Emma spoke again.

"Why did you tell me?", she asked without even turning to look at Astoria. A thing that Slytherins seemed to do a lot.

"You're the only one that I can tell something like this. My sister wouldn't understand. Theodore would just laugh and Blaise wouldn't even notice that I was talking because he's always snogging some girl. So I guess that means that you're my only friend", Astoria said.

"That's pathetic", Emma said and shook her head, "but I'm afraid that the same goes for me. I don't really have that many friends"

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><p>The train stopped and everything went on as usual. Until Astoria spotted Draco just as she was entering the Castle. She ran away, but Draco saw her. Astoria stopped expecting him to start yelling at her or something, but he just stared at her. He didn't move or even speak. He just stared. Then, after a moment had passed, he simply moved on.<p>

For some reason Astoria felt as if all the air in her lungs had vanished. She stood there staring after Draco with her mouth slightly open. A million thoughts ran through her head. Was he mad at her? Why? Because she hadn't sent him a letter? Because she hadn't thanked him for the gift?

"What are you doing?" a voice suddenly asked. Astoria turned around to face her sister who had by now grabbed her arm and started dragging her towards the dungeons.

"I wasn't..."

"You weren't doing anything", Daphne said."That's the problem" Astoria merely stared at her sister.

"Why didn't you tell me that you and Theodore broke up?" Astoria asked once Daphne and she had managed to reach the Slytherin common room.

"I don't know. Where did you even hear that?" Daphne questioned.

"Emma told me"

"Emma?...Wait. Emma Travers?!" By now Daphne was staring at Astoria with wide eyes. "You're friends with...Emma Travers?! Is that the sort of people you spend your time with?"

Astoria narrowed her eyes at her sister and stormed to the dormitories. She couldn't understand why her sister always had something againts the things she did. It wasn't like Daphne had ever cared about Astoria, was it? When they were little, Daphne had been going around with the popular children, while Astoria had preferred to stay inside and read books, or something like that. So why was she trying to be protective of her now?

The answer hit Astoria at once. It was all because of the war. The war was changing people so fast that Astoria was having trouble keeping up with all of it. There was one thing though, that made Astoria smile a little. Astoria had, without anyone really noticing, become the more known Greengrass sister.

"I'm...er...sorry to bother you, but...um...Theodore Nott wants to speak with you", a trembling voice said. Astoria turned to face Grace, the girl who slept in the same dormitory. The girl who had once been so proud of herself.

"Alright", Astoria said. Astoria stopped as she opened the door. With a sigh, she let the door close and turned to look at Grace.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Grace turned around looking frightened.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Astoria sighed again.

"It's obvious that something's happened. What is it?"

Grace took a deep breath and sat down on to her bed. Then suddenly she began to cry.

"The Death Eaters. They killed my brother. They said he was a traitor, but I know that Tom would have never done such a thing. He would have never made our family a target. Never!", Grace sobbed. Astoria walked to the bed and sat down next to her.

"What happened then? Are they coming after the rest of your family?" she asked. Grace turned to look at Astoria, clearly surprised that she even cared.

"No. But that doesn't make it any less scary. What if they decide that I'm a traitor? What if they..." the rest of Grace's words were gone as she began to cry again. Astoria turned to stare at the dormitory door, her mind making decisions faster than she could understand.

"Wipe those tears away. They can't see that you've cried", she said without turning to actually look at Grace. She could hear how Grace moved to the bathroom and performed some spell. A moment later Grace returned and Astoria got off of the bed.

"Can you swear that you will not make a fool of yourself? That you will not, under any circumstances disobey me, or others that I tell you to trust? Can you promise that you will give them no reason to hunt you?" she said very slowly, as if every word needed to be understood extra carefully. Grace merely nodded again. A smile spread on Astoria's face.

"Brilliant"

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><p>Theodore Nott was waiting in the common room for Astoria to arrive. What was taking the bloody girl so long was completely beyond him. Then finally Astoria appeared. She was alone.<p>

"What do you want?" she asked. There was something different about Astoria. Theodore frowned as he tried to figure it out as he spoke.

"Are you still with us?" he asked. This time it was Astoria's turn to frown.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I understood that you and Draco have been having...issues in your relationship", Theodore said with a small smile tugging the corners of his lips. Astoria took a few steps closer.

"There is no relationship. I am still 'with you', whatever that means. Actually, I have a surprise in store for tomorrow", she said. Theodore was just about to open his mouth, but Astoria cut him off.

"Was there something else?" Astoria asked. Theodore shook his head, and Astoria ran back to the dormitories.

* * *

><p>Next day, at breakfast, Draco sat opposite Theodore in the Slytherin table. Theodore seemed to be deep in thought, so he missed the fact that Draco was looking for something. Or more like someone. And just like his thoughts would have been read, the person in question appeared at the door. Astoria spotted Draco instantly and headed towards him. Why she did that was still unclear to Draco, at least until he saw that there was a girl following Astoria.<p>

"Everyone. This is Grace. Grace. This is everyone", she said. Grace seemed to be very nervous as Blaise, Emma, Theodore, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle exchanged suspicious glances.

"She's promised to keep her mouth shut", Astoria said. And with that the glances were gone. Emma immediately turned to introduce herself, while Blaise switched on one of his more attractive smiles. Meanwhile Astoria sat next to Draco.

"Are you sure about this?" Draco asked with a tired voice. The Christmas holiday had been everything but a holiday to him, and that was clear to everyone. Astoria nodded.

"She needs concealment", she said. Draco turned to glance at Grace and then turned back to Astoria.

"But what does she have to offer?" he asked. Astoria turned to look at her plate, which was by now filled with food.

"I'm not sure, but I'll figure it out", she said. Draco nodded, his eyes closing and opening slowly due to the lack of sleep.

"Alright", he said and turned to look at his place. From his expression you could tell that he wasn't really interested in eating. "But you do realize that there are other things we need to talk about?", he said. This time Astoria nodded.

Theodore watched all of this from his seat, slowly beginning to realize what had changed. He and Draco were no longer the only ones in charge.

_**REVIEW?**_


	17. As Planned

_**AN:**_First of all I want to thank all the wonderful people who reviewed, added this story to their favourites and alerts.

Now I know that I should probably write a little longer chapters, but this one just didn't want be any longer. There will be lots and lots of Draco/Astoria action, even though they're nowhere near to a relationship yet.

I really hope that you love this chapter and I also hope that you tell me what you thought of it. That would make an excellent birthday gift.

Disclaimer: I own none of this. It all belongs to J.

* * *

><p>Despite saying that they needed to talk, Draco didn't approach Astoria after they had eaten. Instead he just returned to the Slytherin common room, and from there, to the dormitories to sleep. Draco didn't talk to her on the next day either. Or the day after that, or the day after that. In fact, he didn's talk to her for almost three weeks.<p>

Then one day, Draco was in the library, reading a potions book, when Astoria suddenly appeared. She just sat opposite to him, as if it was no big deal.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" she asked. Draco looked up from his book, his eyelids feeling somehow heavier than usual.

"I haven't been avoiding you", he said.

"Oh no, not at all. You just haven't talked to me or anyone else really"

"Well, that's not avoiding", Draco protested. Astoria snorted and rolled her eyes.

"No, it's called being a complete arse!", she hissed, while keeping a smile on her face.

"Perhaps this hasn't crossed your little mind, little Greengrass, but I don't want to talk to you", Draco said and turned back to his book.

"Well, that could be true...but it's not", Astoria said. "Either way, I have a question that's been bothering me"

"Only one?" Draco said with the coldest tone he could come up with.

"Yes. Why did you want me to sit with you in the train in September?" This time Draco looked up from his book and stared at the girl in front of her.

"Because I couldn't have you running around telling people what you've seen", he said. Astoria frowned a little and Draco decided to use the opportunity to do what he did best. Insult her.

"Astoria, you do realize that you're meaningless to me, right? You're what...fifteen? Why are you even here?" he said. Astoria face was completely emotionless, but Draco knew he had hit her where it hurt. He knew that Astoria had her little issues, one of them being the fact that she was afraid of being hated.

"Why do you have to be like this?" Astoria asked quietly. Draco merely laughed at her. But he stopped soon as he saw Astoria's eyes. They looked like they were on fire. The anger in her eyes could have been easily compared to the look Bellatrix so often had on her face.

"What are you trying to achieve Malfoy?", Astoria hissed, "Do you think that insulting me makes you somehow better? The only reason I talked to you in the first place, is because I knew that you were lonely and I thought you needed someone to talk to. But I suppose I was wrong. You clearly enjoy being alone"

Draco raised his eyebrow even though he was rather frightened. He had never seen Astoria like this.

"Brilliant. Do you have anything more to say? If not, then could you leave? I'm trying to read", he said. Before he had any time to react, Astoria had gotten up from her chair and slapped him right across the face. The sound echoed in the library for a moment.

Draco felt as if his head was spinning. He was tired. Always so tired. That is why he never even attempted duel Astoria, even though she had humiliated him. He merely turned to stare at her, watching as she walked away. After she was out of his sight, he turned back to his book like nothing happened. He hadn't wanted to insult her like that, not really. But he had no choice. He didn't want her around. He was too dangerous. He could easily end up being the person responsible for her death. And even though Draco was convinced that he had no feelings for Astoria, he didn't want her to get hurt.

Astoria stormed in to the dormitories and sat on to her bed.

"Astoria?" asked Grace who had been sitting on her own bed reading a book. "What's wrong?"

"I hate him", Astoria muttered, loudly enough for Grace to hear.

"What did he do?" asked Grace. It didn't take a genius to figure out who Astoria was talking about.

Astoria stayed still for a moment, simply staring at the wall in front of her. Then suddenly with her mind clear as day, she got up and walked out of the dormitory. When she got to the common room she looked around, trying to locate a familiar face. And there it was. The perfect way of becoming invisible again and as a bonus, angering Draco. John Avery.

Astoria walked to John with an almost unnatural smile on her face.

"Hi", Astoria said as she sat next to John on to the couch. John seemed more than surprised to see her.

"Hello Astoria", he said while nervously glancing around the room. Astoria frowned lightly. What was wrong with him?

"Do you remember the time when you asked me to study with you?" she asked. John nodded.

"Well, I was wondering if you would be able to help me with my potions homework. I understand if you're too busy with something else..." John shook his head.

"No, no, I'm not too busy. You just...you have to promise that you won't tell your friends", he said.

"Why?"

"Why? Astoria, the last time I tried to talk to you, they practically threatened to kill me!", John said, still glancing around the room from time to time.

"Who threatened to kill you?" Astoria asked even though she had a pretty good guess.

"Malfoy, Nott and Zabini", John admitted. Astoria merely stared at him for a moment.

"You don't have to worry about them. I'll deal with Malfoy and Nott", she said. John raised an eyebrow at this.

"You're not worried about Zabini?" he asked.

"Zabini? Oh I wouldn't worry about him...", Astoria said with a laugh.

Draco had managed to make his way out of the library and he was on his way to the common room. Just outside the door though, his eyes caught the sight of something rather interesting going on. Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini were talking to each other, a short distance away from the common room door. Draco couldn't hear what they were saying, nor did he really care, but the sight of those two even talking to each other was interesting enough. Also, Draco could have sworn that he saw Daphne's lips say a word similar to 'Astoria', but perhaps that was just his mind playing tricks with him.

Shrugging and deciding that he didn't care what they were talking about, Draco entered the common room. He instantly wished he hadn't. The first thing he saw was Astoria talking to John Avery on the couch. It appeared that Avery made some sort of a joke and Astoria laughed. Avery caught Draco's eye and for a moment he looked as if he was scared out of his mind, but then he turned back to Astoria who had said something.

Draco lifted his eyebrow a little, a thing he did very rarely while he scanned the room for Theodore. When he saw Nott, it became clear to him that he wasn't the only one who was wondering how the hell someone like Avery had the guts to stand againts their threat.

Draco slowly began to make his way to the dormitories, but he was instantly stopped by Astoria. She had that look in her eyes again and even though Draco was considerably taller than her, he was slightly frightened. Not that he would ever, _ever, _admit that.

"What do you want Greengrass?" he asked.

"I want to talk", Astoria said.

"I don't think we have anything to talk about", Draco said. Suddenly Astoria's expression changed. It became much softer.

"Actually, we do", she said. Draco merely shook his head.

"Actually, we don't", he said and begain to walk past her.

"We need to talk about Christmas", Astoria whispered, quietly enough, so that only Draco heard her. Her words made him stop instantly.

"Fine", he said. Astoria nodded and together they left the common room, causing more than a few pairs of Slytherin eyebrows rise.

Draco used a silencing charm on the door of the empty classroom to which Astoria had led him. The last thing they needed- the last thing he needed- was another encounter with a Carrow.

"Why did you send me that book?" Astoria asked. She was clearly uncomfortable. She hadn't planned this. She hadn't meant to ask Draco about this. She had meant to ask him about Avery.

"You said you hated potions, which I think is ridiculous", he said.

"So, you thought the gift would annoy me?" Astoria asked with a frown. Draco nodded.

Astoria sighed. She didn't hate Draco. She wanted to, but she couldn't. Maybe it was because she could see that he was lying, or maybe it was because she knew that he was going through a hard time. Or perhaps it was just the fact that during the last year she had become very used to him being around and now that he wasn't talking to her, she felt as if she was all alone.

"I thought it was very nice of you"; Astoria said while staring at her feet, "I'm sorry that I haven't thanked you earlier"

"Is this why you dragged me here?", Draco asked with a dry laugh, "To find out if a simple Christmas gift had some deeper meaning? I swear you're starting to remind me of Pansy"

"Oh really? Did you send Pansy a gift?" Astoria asked while taking a few steps forward. Draco hesitated in answering. The truth was that he hadn't sent Pansy anything. He hadn't even written her a letter.

"I see", Astoria said as she took more steps forward, "Well. Did you send Theodore a gift?" Draco shook his head slightly. Astoria took one more step forward. They were now standing closer to each other than ever before.

"Did you send anyone else a gift?" Astoria whispered. She had no idea how or why she was standing so close to him. She only knew that it felt...it felt...natural. Like there was nothing odd about it. Like this was where she was supposed to be standing.

"Well", Draco began. His throat suddely seemed very dry. "I-I gave a gift to my mother..."

"That doesn't count Draco", Astoria said, cutting off his sentence. Draco merely stared at her for a moment. There was something about the way she had said his name. It sounded good. Very good.

"So I sent you a gift. It doesn't mean anything", he said. Astoria smiled a little.

"I know it doesn't. I just wanted to thank you", she said.

"That's funny. A few months ago you swore that you hated me and that no one would ever forgive me for doing what I did and now you're thanking me. That's a bit insane. You do know that, right?" Draco said. Astoria merely smiled a little. Then she surprised him by standing on the tips of her toes and pressing her lips againts his cheek. Draco body froze for a moment, too shocked to make any sort of move.

"Maybe I am a bit insane", she said more to herself than anyone else.

"And by the way", Astoria continued as she took a few steps back, "don't threaten John again. His never done anything bad, so you have nothing to be jealous about"

"If you're suggesting that I'm jealous of him because he spends time with you then I am sorry to disappoint you. You're a bit too complicated for my taste", Draco said.

"I never said you'd be jealous of him because he was with me. But it's good that we have that cleared too", Astoria said and with that she walked out of the door, leaving Draco standing there not quite sure of what had just happened.

As Astoria got to the hallway, she closed her eyes. That had _not _gone the way she had planned. She hadn't planned on giving him a kiss, or thanking him. To tell the truth she had planned none of it. She had planned on yelling at him, angering him and if given the chance, hexing him. But that hadn't happened. Instead of answeing questions, her encounter with Draco had brought a million more questions to her.

Astoria had more or less unconsciously walked towards the Slytherin common room, and now she was standing in front of the door. She looked around like any other person would, except soon her eyes resembled more like the size of a swimming pool than someone's eyes. Was her sister talking to Zabini?

_**I hope that you liked it. **_


	18. Trust

_**AN:**_I know this chapter might be a little confusing, and shorter than usual, but I promise that the next one will be longer. I had so many things I wanted to bring up in this chapter, so I apologize if it ended up being confusing.

I want to take time to thank everyone who has reviewed, followed and added this story to their favorites. Keep it up!

Disclaimer: I own none of this.

* * *

><p>Astoria stared at her sister and Zabini with her mouth slightly open. Her sister and...Zabini? Again? Daphne turned around slightly, so that she saw Astoria. Daphne looked positively horrified. Even though she was older, Daphne had long ago recognized that her sister was equally powerful as she was, if not even more.<p>

Daphne and Astoria stared at each other, and just as Daphne was about to walk to her sister, someone else appeared from the corridor behind Astoria. Malfoy. Daphne watched with mixed feelings as her sister and Malfoy shared a short glance which seemed to hold a meaning that Daphne couldn't quite understand. Astoria on the other hand knew perfectly well what Draco's glance had meant. This was not the first time that Daphne and Zabini were talking to each other.

Then, with a final glance at her sister, Astoria continued her way to the common room.

Weeks passed quickly as people began to doubt if The Chosen One was going to win the war after all. These weeks passed so quickly, that before anyone even noticed, Easter had arrived. And with Easter arrived a holiday.

Astoria was glad to go home and see her father. Even though Astoria didn't always like her father, she still hoped that they would get to spend time together. The stories she had heard from other students about how their family members had mysteriously disappeared had slightly frightened her.

Draco however, was mortified that he had to return home. The idea of Malfoy Manor along with his dear aunt Bellatrix was not very welcoming. Draco was also doubtful about if he even wanted to see his parents. His mother he wanted to see, that was for sure, but he was not so sure about his father. Draco had always looked up to his father but the past months had made him realize that perhaps allowing your son to take the Dark Mark was not what a father was supposed to do.

But either way Draco was aware that he could no longer return to what was before. He could no longer go back to the days when he was one of the most popular Slytherins. To the days when he spent his time insulting Potter and his friends. Those days were over.

Despite all these things, Astoria and Draco were both in the train on their way back home. They weren't sitting in the same compartment though. They hadn't even talked after the classroom incident. Partly because Draco was still trying to figure out why Astoria had dragged him there in the first place and partly because it had recently dawned on Astoria, what she had actually done. She had kissed him. It didn't matter if it was his cheek or his bloody lips for Merlin's sake! She had kissed a Death Eater! A Death Eater! A man with whom she had nothing in common, a man who she had sworn to hate, a man who was everything but nice.

Perhaps it was because of these thoughts that Astoria didn't first notice Emma who was trying to talk to her.

"Oi Greengrass!" Emma suddenly yelled. This brought Astoria back from her thoughts. She was sitting in one of the compartments with Emma and Grace.

"What?" Astoria asked, confused.

"What do you think about Theodore?" Emma asked. Astoria raised her eyebrows a little as she detected a small dreamyness to Emma's tone.

"Nott? He's...a Nott, I suppose", Astoria said. This answer didn't satisfy Emma though.

"Yes, yes, I know that! But do you think he's...well, you know", she asked. Astoria did her best to hide the small smile which was making its way to her lips.

"Actually I don't know. Are you asking me if I think he's handsome?" Astoria questioned.

"That's exactly what she's asking. Emma has a thing for Nott"; Grace said, earning a glare from Emma. "And it gets better", she continued, completely ignoring the looks Emma was giving her, "I think Nott likes her as well"

"He doesn't like me!" Emma shrieked.

"You know, I have to agree with Emma on this one. I'm having a lot of trouble imagining Nott actually liking someone", Astoria said.

"Exactly. And I don't have a thing for Nott", Emma said. Then without another word she turned back to stare out of the window and the subject was not discussed again before they'd reached London.

At King's Cross, Astoria's father was waiting for her and Daphne. Daphne rushed to hug their father while Astoria merely nodded at him. Even though she had grown to understand the meaning of family, Astoria still couldn't get over the fact that her father so clearly favoured Daphne.

Later that night, Astoria with her sister and father, were having dinner.

"I have been thinking", Michael Greengrass suddenly said, "and I have come to a decision. You will not return to Hogwarts" Both of the sisters turned to look at their father as if he'd gone insane.

"You can't be serious", Daphne said. Their father looked very confused.

"It's dangerous there. I thought you would want to get away from there", he said. Astoria merely shook her head.

"No father. If we leave school we will be regarded as blood traitors and we'll be killed. Believe it or not, but Hogwarts is the safest place for us", she said. Daphne nodded.

"And it's not like we don't have friends at Hogwarts who can help us if we get in to trouble", Daphne said. Astoria's mind was spinning. Was that why Daphne and Zabini had been talking? Had Daphne gotten herself in to trouble?

"Especially Astoria", Astoria heard Daphne say. She turned to stare at her sister in confusion. "Why don't you tell father about your friends?" Daphne encouraged. Astoria couldn't believe what she was doing.

"What do you mean?" their father asked after a moment of silence had passed. "I thought you said that you didn't have that many friends at school"

"Oh Astoria has a whole circle of friends", Daphne said, "Where should I start? Well, Emma Travers is one. And then there's Theodore Nott, John Avery whom I believe she's actually seing right now, and Grace...what was her last name again?"

"What?" Astoria's father demanded, "Why would you make such terrible choices? Do you realize that those people are Death Eaters? Do you not realize that they are dangerous?"

Astoria stared at her plate for a moment before turning to her father and replying with a clear voice:

"I do realize and I will stop talking to them at once"

That was a complete lie of course, but Astoria was too shocked to tell him the truth. To tell him that they were her friends and that they would never hurt her. And Astoria was also certain that her father wouldn't believe her no matter what she said. It was Daphne's word againts her's and that was something she could never win.

The easter holiday passed slowly. Astoria refused to talk to her sister and spent most of her time locked up in her room reading books. Even though she didn't like to admit it, she found herself going over the book Draco had given her. She kept reading the words he had written over and over again.

By the time the holiday was over, Astoria didn't go anywhere without that book.

Before she even had time to realize it, Astoria was back on the train on her way to Hogwarts. She was looking for Emma. She went trough the compartment one by one until she found her. Emma and Grace were sitting with Theodore and Blaise. To Astoria's great dislike, her sister was also there.

"Hi Astoria", Grace said.

"Hello", Astoria said while glaring at her sister.

"Aren't you going to sit down?" Grace asked. After a moment of thinking Astoria replied.

"No"

And with that she went to find another compartment. She didn't want to sit alone so she was actually rather delighted to find Draco sitting alone in one of the compartments.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Astoria asked as she stepped in. Draco's head snapped around and Astoria jumped back a little. There were dark rings around his eyes again, a clear sign that he hadn't slept. He also looked more frightened then usual.

"I suppose not", he said. Astoria didn't smile, she just sat down opposite to him. Suddenly she detected something rather strange.

"Is that your wand?" she asked while gesturing at the wand Draco was holding. It didn't look like his wand.

"Of course it is", Draco said without turning to look at her or the wand.

"Are you sure?" Astoria asked. This time Draco turned to look at her and there was a very clear hint of anger in his tired eyes.

"Yes, of course I am sure. Now drop it, or you can go", he spat.

"How was your holiday?" Asoria asked, doing her best to ignore Draco's hateful tone of voice.

"What do you think?" Draco asked. His expression told her everything. Something had gone wrong. Terribly wrong.

Draco stared at the girl in front of him for a moment. When he had first met Astoria he had thought her to be an annoying little girl, but somehow he had grown to like her. Not love her, or not that greatly like her either, but he no longer minded her being there. In fact sometimes he found himself wondering where she was and what she was doing. Whether she was happy or unhappy. Whether she was thinking about him like he was thinking about her.

But Draco knew (or at least thought he knew) that Astoria could never care for him that way. No one would. Because whether he admitted it or not, he still kept Astoria's letter in his pocket. The one where she told him that she hated him and that no one would ever love him. He sometimes read it when he had nothing better to do. And he had done terribly things she knew nothing about. He had tortured a fellow Death Eater, and he had witnessed how Granger had been tortured and he had done nothing.

Draco was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't even notice how his eyes began to close slowly. Soon enough, he was asleep.

Astoria watched this with a small hint of a smile on her face. She knew that Draco needed sleep and somehow she felt honored that he trusted her so much that he could sleep when she was around.

Or perhaps it wasn't trust. No matter what it was, Astoria still didn't leave the compartment when Draco fell asleep. Not even when she saw her sister standing behind the compartment door, glaring daggers through the both of them.

**_Review and tell me what you__ thought!_**


	19. Admitting What You Feel

_**AN:** _Now this chapter is slightly longer than the other ones but I don't think anyone will mind that.

I want to take time to thank everyone who has reviewed and added this story to their favorites or followed it. You people really make my day.

And without further boring you, here is the chapter.

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, no matter how much I'd want to

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><p>The train jerked lightly which caused Draco to wake up. He looked around for a moment, not understanding how and when he had fallen asleep.<p>

Then his eyes landed on Astoria who was casually staring out of the window on the other side of the small compartment. She was sitting opposite to him, and she was quite clearly not aware that he was awake.

Draco straighten himself, hoping that Astoria hadn't noticed that he had fallen asleep. He also hoped that he hadn't done anything stupid while he was asleep.

Neither of them said a word until the train reached Hogwarts.

"Mention anything I said to anyone and it'll be your end. Got it?" Draco said as he got up from his seat. Astoria merely nodded. She seemed to be thinking about something and for the first time in quite a while, Draco had no idea what that something was.

They both left the train without saying anything more. Draco went on to find Crabbe and Goyle while Astoria continued on her own. At least until Daphne appeared again.

"What are you doing?" Astoria asked as Daphne grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the mass of students.

"No. What are you doing? I saw you with Malfoy!" Daphne said. Suddenly her eyes widened. "Wait. Last year. Was _he _the one who sent you those letters?"

"It's none of your business", Astoria said. Daphne let out a joyless laugh.

"Of course it's my business. You're my sister. It's my job to make sure you're not falling in to the arms of a very dangerous man!"

"First of all, I'm not falling in to anyone's arms. We're not seeing each other and I don't feel that way about him. Second: when did you start to care?" said Astoria.

"Look, I know that you think these people are your friends, but they're not! They're dangerous. Plus if they know too much about you, it will be very difficult to run away"; Daphne said. Astoria stared at her sister for a while, trying to understand what she was talking about.

"Run away?"

"Yes, Astoria. If we have to run away. Let's face it. Potter's chances aren't looking too good, are they? And if it comes to it, we're not staying. I've already arranged it so that if we run, we can go to Graham's house and from there to France", Daphne explained quietly.

"Whose Graham?" asked Astoria even though she had a pretty good guess.

"Graham Montague. He's a...friend of mine", Daphne said while a small blush crept to her cheeks.

"Oh really? And what sort of a friend is he?" Astoria asked. Daphne stared at her sister with an uncomfortable look.

"That's my business, not yours. You have enough trouble with men already" Astoria's eyes widened.

"Enough trouble? What in the name of Merlin makes you think you have the right to come and lecture me about staying away from dangerous guys, when I'm not even seeing anyone while you yourself are seeing someone", Astoria hissed. Daphne looked shocked. The Astoria she knew, would never had said something like this. Her sister had changed and Daphne didn't quite know what to think about that.

"Now if you don't have any more rubbish to tell me, I will be going", Astoria said and walked confidently back to the mass of students. However, that confidence in her walk disappeared as soon as she was out of her sister's sight. She couldn't believe what she had heard. Even Daphne was scared that Potter wouldn't win. Astoria had always held on to the hope that Potter would somehow manage to defeat the Dark Lord, but Daphne was right. Potter's odds weren't good.

But did that justify Daphne's words? Sure, Draco could be considered as a dangerous man, but Astoria knew that he wouldn't hurt her. He'd had many chances and many reasons to do thgat before, but he'd never hurt her. So why would he hurt her now? And who was this Graham that Daphne had mentioned? Certainly not the Graham Montague that Astoria remembered? Not the guy who had been the captain of Slytherin's quidditch team?

"Something wrong Greengrass?" a familiar voice asked. Astoria turned around to see Theodore Nott walking behind her.

"No", she lied, "I was just lost in my own thoughts"

"Right. Wouldn't be thinking about a certain blonde Death Eater, would you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about", Astoria said quietly. Truth be told, she knew exactly what Theodore meant. She still had no idea what she felt for Draco, but she knew that it had been going on for a long time.

"Oh, come on Greengrass! I might be a bloke but I'm not blind. You like him, he likes you, what's the problem?" Theodore asked, now walking beside Astoria.

"He doesn't like me", Astoria argued as they entered the Great Hall.

"Oh right. Do you need glasses or something Greengrass, because I think there's got to be something wrong with your eyesight. He's mad for you"

"Oh yeah? Why does he hate me then? Why does he repeatedly tell me go away? Why does he always tell me that I mean nothing, that I...", Astoria stopped in the middle of her sentence, when she realized what she was saying. Why was she telling this to Theodore?

"That you're what? Nothing? Not his type? That you're annoying?", Theodore questioned with a smile on his face, "Has it ever crossed your mind that he only says that to convince himself? That he actually likes you but is afraid of admitting it?"

"No. I haven't thought of that", Astoria replied honestly. Theodore just nodded.

"You know, you two are more alike than you think, Greengrass. But then again, you're complete opposites. But you know what they say...opposites attract", he said with a smile and walked to the other end of the table to sit next to Draco, Crabbe, Goyle and Zabini.

"So, do you mind telling me what the hell happened on the train?" asked Emma who had appeared next to Astoria.

"Nothing happened. I had a fight with Daphne earlier and I didn't want to sit with her so I went on and found another compartment"; Astoria said as they both sat down.

"What did you guys fight about?" Emma asked. Her voice held a tone that suggested that she didn't really care, but Astoria knew that it was fake. Whether Emma wanted to admit it or not, she considered Astoria as her friend.

"Apparantely Daphne dislikes my choices when it comes to the people I spend time with", Astoria said slowly. There was a small hint of a smile on Emma's face.

"She hates me doesn't she?" she said. Astoria nodded.

"And I have no idea why", she admitted. Emma turned to look at her friend with a meaningful look.

"Am I the only friend she dislikes, or is there someone else too? Say, your boyfriend-to-be?" she asked. Astoria glared at Emma angrily.

"Why is it that everyone is so interested about Malfoy?" she asked. Emma smiled widely.

"Have you kissed yet?" she asked. Astoria looked positively mortified.

"No", she said. Emma raised her hands up in a sign of surrender and turned back to her plate.

The day went on normally. Snape kept some kind of a speech but Astoria paid little attention to it, because she knew that whatever Snape was saying was a lie. Eventually Astoria made her way to the Slytherin common room where she stayed with Emma and Grace for the rest of the time. Then, after Emma and Grace had gone up to sleep, Astoria dug up the Potions book she had gotten as a Christmas present and browsed through it slowly.

She must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next time she looked up from the book, there was no one else in the common room. Astoria gathered her things and headed for the stairs that led to the dormitory when she collided with someone. She fell to the ground, hitting her arm.

"Ouch", she muttered quietly to herself without even bothering to look and see exactly who she had ran in to.

"Are you hurt?" Draco's voice drawled from next to her. Astoria looked at him with clear surprise all over her face. Was that worry that she heard in his voice?

"No. Are you?" Malfoy scoffed and offered his hand to Astoria, who was still sitting on the floor. Astoria stared at his hand for a moment before grabbing it and letting Draco pull her up.

"I don't get hurt that easily", Draco said once he had pulled Astoria up. They were standing very closely now and Draco was still holding Astoria's hand.

"I was just...I was just being nice", Astoria stammered quietly. Draco frowned and let her hand go.

"I sometimes wonder how you got in to Slytherin. You're too...kind. You're honest. You're..."

"I'm what?" Astoria asked, when it seemed that Draco wasn't going to say anything.

"Nothing. It doesn't matter. My point is, you should be in Gryffindor, not in Slytherin. Or maybe Hufflepuff", he said. Astoria shook her head slightly.

"Nah. I'm not brave enough to be a Gryffindor, nor am I patient enough to be in Hufflepuff. I'd get bored with Hufflepuffs. They offer me no challenge. And don't even ask why I'm not in Ravenclaw", she said. This made Draco almost smile. But that smile never made it to his lips.

"You'd get bored with Hufflepuffs, because they don't offer you enough challenge", he repeated, "And do Slytherins challenge you then?"

"All the time! I constantly try to imagine what they're thinking and planning. And I must admit that I don't succeed as often as I'd like. Especially with you", Astoria said. Draco's breath got caught in his throat.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Oh come on. You keep telling me that you don't like me and yet you don't complain when I'm around. You never give me a clue to whether or not you even like me", Astoria said, slightly out of breath. Draco merely stared at her for a moment. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. Was she asking him if he liked her or was she just stating those things for no reason?

"Well?" Astoria questioned.

"No. I don't hate you", Draco said and walked past Astoria to the sit on the couch she had left just a minute or two ago. Astoria crossed her arms across her chest and stared at Draco, who was obviously attempting to ignore her.

"Theodore said that you..." she started but was cut off when Draco cut up from the couch and stared at her with a confused look.

"Theodore? You've talked to Theodore again?", he asked. For a moment Astoria was sure that she heard jealousy in his voice. She walked confidently to Draco and sat on the couch. After staring at Astoria in surprise for a moment, Draco sat down next to her. He had a feeling that this was supposed to make him feel nervous, but truth be told, he felt comfortable.

"So what did Theodore have to say?" Draco asked. Astoria looked around for a moment, trying to avoid telling Draco what Theodore had said. In the end it didn't work that well, since Draco was staring at her with thos piercing grey eyes of his and Astoria just couldn't keep the words in her mouth anymore.

"He said that you only say that you hate me, because you're afraid of admitting that you like me", she said.

"Theodore thinks I like you? Why do you care? I already said that I don't hate you, so the fact that I like you can't be that big of a surprise", he said. Astoria closed her eyes for a moment. Draco was being stubborn. She was sure that he knew what she meant, but he just wouldn't say it.

"He meant that you _like_ me. Romantically", Astoria said. If there had ever been any colour on the young Malfoy's face, it disappeared the second those words had left Astoria's mouth.

There was a long moment of silence. Astoria was slightly scared that she had angered him and he would just storm off like he usually did. And she was quite right. Draco was thinking about leaving but he realized that that wouldn't do him any good. That would just make Astoria run back to Theodore who would fill her head with ideas and thoughts that made no sense. Not that this one was one of those thoughts.

Part of the reason why Draco didn't run away, was because he knew that Theodore was right. Draco did have feeling for Astoria. He just wasn't quite sure what those feelings were and what they meant. He had been a bit too busy making sure that he wouldn't get killed, to pay attention to his feelings. After all, that was what his parents (mostly his father) had taught him. Always look out for yourself. It had never crossed his mind that in order to look out for himself, he would also have to look out for someone else.

Draco knew that if he would do one decent thing in his life, that would be saving Astoria. He didn't really care how or even when, but he knew that he couldn't let her die in this war. Even though Astoria was smart and already very mature, she wasn't old enough to fight in a war. Even Draco wasn't old enough to fight in a war. So he had to save Astoria. He wasn't going to risk his life in order to do that, he was just going to make sure that when the time came, Astoria would escape and not do something stupid.

"Draco?" Astoria voice snapped Draco out of his thoughts.

"What?" he asked with a rather angry tone.

Astoria stared at him and for a moment Draco was reminded of the time he insulted her in the library. She had looked like she was about to cry then and she looked exactly the same now. Draco also knew how quickly that look cold transform into a look of complete rage.

"Nothing", Astoria said, "Absolutely nothing. I don't...Why do I even bother? I...Do you remember when you were attacked by Potter last year?"

"Vividly"

"I was worried then. I was actually worried. About you. I couldn't understand why. Later I realized that I wanted to...I saw how miserable you were and I thought I could do something to change that. I thought that maybe you just needed a friend. But your name suits you well. You're just like a dragon. You try to blast anyone who gets too close"

"What in the name of Salazar Slytherin are you talking about?" Draco asked.

"I'm talking about you", Astoria hissed like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And the fact that you won't answer a simple question"

"What question?"

Astoria kept a small pause. Her look softened slightly before she said:

"Was Theodore right? Do you like me?" Draco looked at Astoria for a moment. He couldn't say it. He just couldn't. How could he say it when she had never said that she felt the same way? He couldn't just embarass himself like that. He was a Malfoy for Merlin's sake.

Astoria bit her lips slightly and looked down at the book she was still holding in her hand so that Draco couldn't see how upset she was. Theodore had been wrong. He didn't like her. She had gotten her hopes up for nothing. Taking in a quick breath which sounded more like a sob, she got up from the couch.

"Very well then", she said and headed towards the dormitories.

Draco was frozen in his seat. He had seen the book Astoria had been holding. It was the book he had given ehr for Christmas. Why would she keep that unless...? And at that moment Draco knew exactly what he had to do.

"Yes", he said, just as Astoria was about to open the door that lead to the dormitories, "The answer to your question is yes"

_**So, what did you think? What will Astoria say? You'll have to wait for the next chapter to find that out. Make sure to REVIEW, and tell me what you thought of this.**_


	20. Insanity

_**AN:**_I want to thank everyone who reviewed and/or added this to their favorites or followed this story.

Now I really hope you like this chapter, and I also hope that you review and tell me what you thought. Without further wasting time on meaningless things: here it is...

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Never have, never will.

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><p>"The answer to your question is yes"<p>

Astoria felt like time had stopped. What had Draco just said? Astoria was convinced that she was dreaming. What other explanation was there?

"What?" Astoria asked with a shaky voice as she turned around, her hand still tightly around the doorhandle. She could hear Draco sneer.

"You heard me. I won't say it again", he said. Astoria just nodded.

"Is it really that bad? Admitting that I'm not a horrible person?" she asked with humour clear in her voice. Draco turned to look at her and the remains of that humour immediately disappeared from Astoria's lips. Even from where she was standing, Astoria could see the coldness in Draco's eyes.

"Yes. Now if you have nothing more to bother me with, leave, please. I have things I want to think about", he said. At that second all of Astoria's warm thoughts about going to Draco and possibly hugging him, vanished. She just stood still for a moment, until she felt something warm at the corner of her eye. She let out a soft gasp as she realized what was going on. She was crying. She was crying and she hadn't even realized it.

It didn't take Draco even a split second to notice what he had said. He immediately regretted it. The truth was that he didn't want Astoria to leave. Quite the opposite in fact. He turned around, ready to apologize (or rather say something that sounded like an apology, but wasn't. Malfoys never apologized for anything) when he saw it. Even in the lowly lit room, it was obvious that there were tears on Astoria's face.

"Astoria", Draco said and got up from the couch. He expected Astoria to burst in to tears, so you can imagine his surprise when instead Astoria stared at him with sadness and anger and said:

"Don't. I'm tired of listening to your lies. Go on. Live your life alone. It's what you want isn't it?" After spitting the words out of her mouth like they were poisonous venom, she pulled the door open and stormed to the dormitories.

Draco stood frozen in his place for a moment before closing his eyes and sitting back down to the couch with a sigh. Great. He had ruined everything. Again. Draco's hand wondered to his pocket where Astoria's letter was. He opened the letter and read it again. He could remember everything that was in it. Every word, Astoria's delicate handwriting, the small smudges that Draco knew to be tears, he could even remember the scent of the letter.

But there were a few words that he usually repeated in his head. _No one will ever love you. _Those words were the ones that Draco feared the most. He did not fear them because he thought they were true. He feared them because he was beginning to realize that Astoria hadn't really meant them. And right at that moment, a new fear entered Draco's mind.

What if Astoria was the one person who actually cared about him, and he had caused her to run away?

Draco let out a deep sigh. He felt a bit like he had felt last year. Lost. He was faced with an impossible task. He had to apologize. He just had to. There was no other choice. If he apologized, it was possible that Astoria would forgive him. But if he wouldn't, Astoria would most likely hate him for the rest of eternity. That thought alone made Draco feel slightly sick to his stomach.

"What are you doing here?" asked a familiar voice behind him. Theodore. In a second, the almost overwhelming sadness Draco had felt, turned to anger.

"What do you want, Theodore?" Draco spat.

"Nothing. I just asked why you were here. Late night meeting with your girlfriend?" Theodore teased. Draco got up from the couch and pointed his wand at Theodore.

"Calm down, Malfoy", Theodore said. Draco scoffed and lowered his wand.

"I needed a place where I could think, so I came down here", he said. Theodore just nodded.

"Same thing. I can't even hear my thoughts in the dormitory. Who knew Crabbe could snore like that?"

There was a moment of silence between the two boys. Theodore and Draco had known each other since early childhood. Their parents had known each other, so the boys had been forced to spend time together. Draco enjoyed Theodore's company sometimes, because unlike Crabbe and Goyle, Theodore wasn't stupid.

"Was that Astoria who I heard yelling here before?" Theodore asked carefully. Draco merely nodded.

"I think I finally got her to hate me", he said.

"Why must you both act like bloody morons? She likes you! She might even love you for Merlin's sake! And you're not any better. I've never seen you make such a fool of yourself for some girl", Theodore said with a smile.

"I haven't made a fool of myself"

"Yes, you have. Do you honestly think that people don't see it? Even I noticed it! The only thing that makes you a fool, is the fact that you refuse to admit that you feel something for her", Theodore said. Draco turned to look at Theodore with a knowing look.

"Are you sure we're still talking about me and Astoria and not about you and a certain girl named Emma?" he asked. Theodore's face became slightly paler.

"I don't know what you're talking about", he said. Draco just nodded.

"Of course not. I think I need some sleep", Draco said.

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><p>The following morning, Draco attempted to find Astoria in the Great Hall. For a moment Draco thought that she wasn't even there but then he saw her enter the Great Hall with Emma and that other girl whose name Draco couldn't remember. Astoria stared straight at him, but instead of smiling slightly like usual, she just turned away.<p>

Astoria was still mad at Draco. She hadn't told anyone what Draco had said, not even Emma. It just felt too...personal. What was she supposed to tell them anyway?

Suddenly someone tapped Astoria shoulder. She turned to see who it was, only to turn back immediately after noticing that it was Draco. She could hear Draco let out a quiet sigh before he sat down next to her.

"What are you doing?" Astoria hissed.

"What does it look like? I'm sitting", Draco said. Astoria just kept staring at her plate and pushing the food around with her fork.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you that you shouldn't play with food?" Draco said.

"My mother's dead, so I doubt that she really minds anything I do", Astoria stated with a tone that easily rivaled the coldness in Draco's voice. Draco had completely forgotten about that. How could he not have remembered that Astoria's mother was dead?

"I'm sorry", he said. Astoria let out a small chuckle-like sound. It sounded really mean.

"Why? You didn't kill her", she said.

"We need to talk", Draco stated. He was growing tired of this game Astoria was playing.

"Maybe I don't want to talk to you", Astoria said.

"Maybe you're lying"

Astoria stared at Draco with her tired, but yet piercing eyes. She slowly put a strand of her dark brown hair behind her ear, before she said: "Fine. Where do you want to talk?"

Draco wanted to smile, but found himself too tired to do so. The events that had passed during his Easter holiday and the war in general were keeping him up at night and preventing him from getting any rest. The fact that he was scared for his own life as well as his parents' wasn't helping much.

"Just follow me, will you?" Draco whispered to Astoria. He saw Astoria nod slightly as a sign that she had heard him. Draco pressed his lips in to a thin line, got up and walked out of the great hall.

Astoria glanced quickly at Emma as she got up, and saw that Emma was staring at her. Emma's face was serious but Astoria could see a glint of humour in her eyes. However, Emma said nothing and soon turned back to talk to Grace about some gossip that Millicent Bullstrode had started.

Astoria followed Draco through the halls of Hogwarts without a word. Soon enough, they reached some abandoned classroom. Draco held the door open, allowing Astoria to enter the room first. Astoria couldn't help but to look around and wonder how and why Hogwarts had so many empty classrooms.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked, as she turned around to face Draco. Draco had closed the door and was just standing there with his hands in his pockets.

"I've been...I know...You've always...I mean..." he started. Astoria raised her eyebrow slightly to indicate that Draco really needed to get himself together, or she would be leaving.

"There's a war going on", Draco finally said. Astoria nodded.

"I've noticed", she said and tilted her head to the side, waiting for Draco to continue.

"And because of that war things have changed. I've become..." Draco said, but Astoria interrupted him:

"A Death Eater? An idiot? A blind moron? A baboon?" she suggested. Draco struggled not to snap at her, but he succeeded and nodded slightly instead.

"I wouldn't use all of those words, but yes, I've become a Death Eater. My life is dangerous", he said. Astoria frowned for a moment before she let out a laugh.

"Really? Are you really going to tell me that you've been acting like a complete git because your life is dangerous? My life is dangerous as well! And do you see me complaining about it?" she exclaimed.

"Let me finish!" Draco snapped. Astoria bit her lip to stop herself from saying anything and sat down on to one of the tables that filled the otherwise empty classroom.

"My life is dangerous and I have barely enough time to think about that, let alone how I feel about it", Draco said.

"Would you just get to the point? I promised to meet John in the common room later", Astoria said. She almost jumped up from the table when she saw Draco's whole expression crumble. He seemed almost crushed.

"Avery? You're choosing Avery over me?" he said, "After all this time?"

"I-I-I didn't realize that choosing you w-was an option", Astoria stammered. She was completely baffled. Was Draco jealous? And if so, was that why he had told John to stay away from her? But if he liked her, or felt attracted to her, then why hadn't he said anything?

"There are always options Astoria", Draco mumbled. He suddenly looked very uncomfortable. He felt uncomfortable too. He had lost. He had lost the fight. Because of some stupid sixth year.

Suddenly Draco saw Astoria walk towards him until they were standing face to face. Even though Astoria was considerably shorter than him, Draco had no trouble looking in to her bright eyes. There was a slight frown on her otherwise perfect face and...wait, what? _Her perfect face?! Great. Just Great, _Draco thought, _As if you don't have enough on your plate. Let's just throw in feelings for a bloody sixth year and..._ But Draco's thoughts were interrupted when he heard Astoria saying his name softly.

"Draco", Astoria said. Draco seemed to be deep in thought, so Astoria repeated his name again, this time much more gently. When he still didn't make any sign of actually hearing her, she slowly brought her fingers to his cheek.

"What are you doing?" Draco whispered. They were now standing so closely that Draco was afraid that if he spoke too loudly, he might scare her away.

"Say it", Astoria whispered. Draco was confused.

"Say what?"

"Tell me to choose you over him", Astoria pleaded. Her heart nearly stopped when she realized what she had said. She knew Draco liked her, he had said it himself. And she wanted to choose Draco over John, she really did. But she had told herself that she wouldn't be stupid. And that was why he needed to say it. He needed to make it real.

"I can't. You know I can't", Draco whispered. He could see how all the hope in Astoria's eyes fell in to pieces.

"Of course not. What was I thinking?" Astoria muttered to herself as she let her hand drop and she backed away.

"I can't ask you to do something like that because I know there's a war outside. And I know that no matter how it turns out I - or my family for that matter - are not in very good standing", Draco tried to explain. Astoria just nodded. She took a deep breath in order to calm herself down. Then with one last glance at Draco, she walked past him and out of the classroom. Or so she had planned.

The moment she had her hand on the doorhandle, Draco grabbed her around her waist and turned her around. Neither of them was thinking rationally. But as Draco crushed his lips againts Astoria's, he realized that maybe rationality wasn't what he needed. Maybe this was what he needed. Insanity.

Astoria couldn't help but to think how heavenly Draco's lips felt like. That was just about the only thought she managed to form in her head. Otherwise her head was just full of fireworks that were very much bothering her thoughts. The only thing she knew for certain was that this didn't change things. This kiss didn't mean that she and Draco were together. The kiss didn't mean that the war had disappeared or that all of Astoria's other problems were gone.

Far too soon Draco pulled away. For the first time in months, maybe even in a few years, there was a genuine smile on his face.

"There's something for you to think when you go and meet Avery", he said while putting a small strand of Astoria's hair behind her ear. "Tell him I said hello"

Astoria merely nodded and walked out of the empty classroom. Once she was out of the door, she didn't stop walking. She walked and walked and walked until she reached the common room. Once she was inside, she saw three people. John, Theodore and Emma. She knew what the looks they were giving her meant

She was going to have to lie to John.

She wouldn't have to say anything to Theodore, because judging from the smile on his face he had a pretty good idea of what had happened.

So that left one person. What was she going to say to Emma?

"You look terrible", Emma said when she saw Astoria.

"Thanks", Astoria replied. Suddenly a smile spread on Emma's face.

"Wait a second...did you...oh no...", Emma started laughing hysterically, "You two kissed?" she whispered while barely containing her laughter. Astoria just nodded. Emma was still laughing when she said:

"About time. One more day and I would've lost my bet with Theo"

_**Thank you for reading. Review and tell me what you thought.**_


	21. The Escape Option

**AN: **I know, I know. It took me forever to write this, but I hope it's worth the wait. I want to thank everyone who's taken the time to review and follow this story and I apologize for any grammar mistakes. I wrote this really quickly and didn't really have time to go through it since I was in a hurry to leave and wanted to get this published before that. So, without further boring everyone, here it is: Chapter 21.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Never have and never will.

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><p>Astoria sighed deeply while pushing her plate a bit further away. Days had passed since Draco had kissed her in the abandoned classroom and she hadn't talked to him since. Truth be told, she didn't even know what she would say to him. So far, Emma was the only one who even knew about the kiss, which was surprising because Astoria had expected Draco to tell Theodore about it.<p>

"Hey!" A quiet voice exclaimed next to her. John. Astoria smiled a little. After the kiss and her conversation with Emma, Astoria had gone off to meet John. Of course, being the Slytherin she was, Astoria had never even considered telling John, so John was still completely clueless. Astoria had figured that since Draco apparently didn't want a relationship with her, she shouldn't wait for him to change his mind. She could see anyone she wanted. John was perfect. He came from a respectable family and Astoria was sure that John was the kind of bloke her father would like.

"Hi," Astoria whispered. John was one of the few people in the entire castle who seemed completely unaffected by the surrounding war. Perhaps he felt safe because his father was a Death Eater. Or maybe he was just too blind to see how close to complete destruction the entire wizarding world was.

Draco, on the other hand, was very aware of what was going on. He knew that the chances of him surviving the war were getting smaller every day. That was why he had told Astoria that he did indeed enjoy her company and that if it weren't for the war, they might've actually had a chance of a future together. But like he had said, there was a war going on. And now he had said everything that needed to be said and he could focus on saving his own life, knowing that Astoria knew that he didn't hate her.

Draco was worried about his family. After the disaster during his Easter holiday, his family had lost a lot. He was now forced to use his mother's wand, leaving both of his parents wandless. And that wasn't the worst part. The Dark Lord was furious. He had taken that out on Lucius, who he considered to be responsible for letting Potter run away. Draco still couldn't get the picture of his aunt torturing Granger out of his mind. He didn't care about what happened to Granger or any of Potter's lot, but that didn't mean that he enjoyed watching her get tortured or hearing Weasley yelling from the cellar.

In a very common moment of loneliness, Draco felt like the only thing he needed was sleep and maybe a little chat with Astoria. For some reason that girl always seemed to have a way of making him calm down. But as Draco took a glance to his right, and spotted Astoria sitting with John Avery, he knew that even if he was lucky, his chances of ever talking to Astoria again were quite small.

It took a moment for Draco to realize that he had been staring at Astoria for a second too long. She'd noticed him staring and she was now looking straight at him with her beautiful eyes and her dark hair framing her stunning face. Last year or perhaps even last month, Draco wouldn't have stared at her or thought about her beauty like this, but a while ago he had decided that he didn't care anymore. He was most likely going to die. That was a fact. And even if he was frightened, so frightened that his fear had begun to control all of his thoughts, he might as well enjoy his last weeks. And whether he admitted it out loud or not, Astoria was beautiful. At least to him. He couldn't understand why others didn't see it the way he did. He didn't understand how a Slytherin could just radiate light and warmth the way Astoria did. But Draco knew that that was one of the reasons he liked her so much. Even in the darkness, Astoria would always manage to hold that light within her heart. That was also the reason why Draco was so convinced that Astoria would make through the war. With or without him.

Astoria couldn't understand why Draco was staring at her. Let alone with that terribly empty look in his eyes. Truth be told Astoria was a little scared. She was scared of what Draco might do. She knew that he would never harm himself but she also knew that he could still end up doing something idiotic, thinking that it would save his life. In the weeks that had passed Astoria had been thinking about Daphne's words. About how Daphne had said that there was an escape for them. She had also come to realize that it was very posssible that they would indeed have to use that escape. But there was one thing that kept bothering her. Could she really leave Draco behind? She couldn't really take him with her and she knew that he wouldn't leave even if she asked. But was she ready to leave him in the hands of a war? In the hands of the Death Eaters? But in some deep corner of her mind Astoria knew that none of those questions mattered. There was only one question that she needed an answer to. Would she be able to go on and live her life happily if he died?

Answering that question didn't take Astoria long. No. She could not go on if Draco died. Not if there was something she could do about it. But what could she do? She didn't even know what was going to happen next? They were in the middle of a war! But for some bizarre reason, Astoria felt responsible for Draco. Everytime she thought about him facing the Dark Lord or any of his Death Eaters a feeling of sickness went through her.

"Astoria?" John's voice beside Astoria stratled her. She'd completely forgotten that he was even there.

"Yes?"

"Didn't you hear anything I said?" John asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice. Astoria gave him a small smile that immediately softened the look on his face.

"I asked you if you'd like to study with me later today?" Astoria kept the smile on her lips, but her mind was racing. She liked John. Sure she didn't like him the way she liked Draco but John was good company. The only problem was that he could be so bloody daft sometimes. Studying? What good was studying going to do if they were all probably going to die anyway?

"No. I don't think I can today. I have plans...with Daphne."

"With Daphne?" It was obvious that John didn't really believe her, but Astoria nodded anyway and turned back to her food.

"What kind of plans do you have with Daphne?" John asked. Astoria looked up from her food and stared at John with a cold look in her eyes.

"None of your business Avery. If I wanted you to know, I would have already told you", she hissed. John looked both insulted and terrified. He swallowed and looked around the table as if he was looking for someone to come and rescue him. The rescue arrived soon in the form of Daphne.

"Oh, there's your sister. I'll leave you two to talk", John said with a quick smile and practically ran out of the Great Hall. Both Daphne and Astoria stared after him with a hint of a smile. Of course there was nothing funny with people being scared. They were in the middle of a war. But for some odd reason Astoria felt a bit proud of herself. People had never been scared of her before. People had never respected her. And even though she was frightened to admit it, she enjoyed the way people had begun to treat her.

"What was that about?" Daphne asked as she sat down next to her sister. Astoria merely shook her head.

"Nothing special", she lied.

"So, I've been planning", Daphne whispered, leaning closer to Astoria, "and I think you should really start considering the escape option. People are dying everyday and you know that if they start doing research on our family tree, we're not safe anymore."

Astoria's heart skipped a beat as she let Daphne's words sink in. How had she missed that? Astoria had been so distracted by Draco and everything else that was going on, that she had forgotten how thin the ice beneath her and her sister was getting. Daphne was right. It wouldn't take the Death Eaters anything more than a quick peek at the Greengrass family tree and they would immediately have a reason to start hunting them down.

"You do remember that our grandmother Dione was a..."

"Half blood", Astoria finished for her sister, "Our grandmother Dione was a half blood."

Astoria felt like all the air in her lungs had disappeared. For the first time in years, Astoria turned to look at her sister with a frightened look in her eyes. For the first time in years, she needed her older sister to tell her what to do. Daphne's lips were set in a tight line and she returned Astoria's look with the same amount of fear.

"Listen to me Tori. We have to leave. Tonight. I've already written to Graham and he's going to be waiting for us in Hogsmeade tonight", Daphne said.

"Tonight?"

"Yes, tonight. So say your goodbyes, but don't tell anyone that we're actually leaving. If they catch us...well, you know what'll happen if we get caught," Daphne said. Astoria's lips formed a small and bitter smile.

"We'll die if we get caught", she said. It was the truth and both of the Greengrass sisters knew it.

"We'll die if we stay here," Daphne noted. That was also true. Perhaps the day hadn't yet arrived, but everyone knew that once the Death Eaters had managed to catch and kill all the muggle borns, they would start hunting half bloods and their families.

Astoria glanced to her left where Draco, Theodore, Emma and Blaise sat. In the past months Astoria had began to consider them as her friends. She trusted Emma, but knew that if Emma knew about Astoria's grandmother, their friendship wouldn not last for long. Theodore was more of a mystery. He didn't seem to always support the Death Eaters but he didn't resist them either. Astoria, as well as Daphne, knew that Blaise would hand them both to the Death Eaters if he knew.

That only left Draco. Would he do that if he knew? Did he know? Astoria had never really considered the possibility that someone other than a member of her family might know about her grandmother. After a moment of consideration, Astoria figured that Draco didn't know. Because if he did, he would have already told the Death Eaters. He was a Death Eater for Merlin's sake.

"Tonight", Astoria finally whispered. And with that it was settled. They were going to escape.

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><p>The dormitory was quiet when Astoria began to go through her things. She'd decided that her trunk would slow her down too much so she was taking only the necessary things with her. That had turned out to become quite the problem. What were the necessary things? Would she need her books? Most likely not. But what about her quills? Her robes? What about book Draco had given her?<p>

Astoria sat on her bed with the potion book in her hands. She had already made her decision. She couldn't take the book with her, just like she couldn't take her quills or her robes. She couldn't take anything with her. With a sigh Astoria placed the book on her bed and got up. She walked out of the dormitory with a sad and cold look in her eyes. Once she was in the common room, she looked around. It was such a sad thought that this might be the last time she would ever see it.

"What's wrong?" Emma asked, suddenly standing beside Astoria.

"Nothing. Everythings...perfect."

"Alright. So something's really wrong. Is it Malfoy? Did you two fight again?" There was a smile on Emma's face. Astoria couldn't help the small smile that rose on to her lips.

"No. What about you and Theodore?" Emma looked more than just shocked. "I'm not blind. I see things Emma. And you like him."

"I do not like him. He's not my type. Plus, he's two years older than me", Emma said.

"Right", Astoria said, barely holding in her laughter. With a jolt of sadness she realized how much she would miss Emma. And everyone else. Maybe not the Carrows, but everyone else. Involuntarily Astoria's eyes sought Draco from the small crowd of Slytherins. He was sitting on his normal spot in one of the armchairs. Emma followed Astoria's gaze and took a few steps back.

"I think I'll let you go and talk to him", she said. Astoria just nodded, completely ignoring the teasing tone in Emma's voice.

Draco looked up from the fireplace he'd been staring at when he saw Astoria approaching. At first he felt the beginning of that cocky Malfoy smile on the corner of his mouth when he remembered his kiss with Astoria. But then he saw the ghost like look on Astoria's face and his smile disappeared immediately. He recognized the look on her face far too well. It was the same look that he had been wearing since the beginning of his sixth year. The look that was caused by the mixture of fear and sadness.

"Hi", Astoria said as she sat down on to the couch that was placed next to the armchair.

"What do you want?" Draco asked. He was aware that he was being rude, but he knew from experience that Astoria wouldn't even talk to him if she wasn't mad.

"Nothing. I just said hi. Do I need a reason for that?" she spat out.

"Well, yes. Yes you do. You never..." Draco stopped his sentence when Astoria got up from the couch and walked away. Draco stared after her in disbelief. What in the name of Salazar Slytherin was wrong with her? And to just make things even stranger, Draco saw that the person who Astoria was going to was Daphne. He hadn't even known that the two sisters were talking to each other.

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><p>On the other side of the common room, Astoria hurried to her sister. She had first spotted Daphne when she had rushed in to the common room. Daphne looked like she was out of breath. Like she had been running, which was impossible since Daphne hated running.<p>

"What is it?" Astoria asked. Daphne tried to say something but her words came out so quiet that Astoria couldn't hear her.

"Daphne. Speak up", she insisted.

"We're too late", Daphne finally said. Astoria's heart jumped in to her throat.

"What do you mean too late?"

"Potter", Daphne sputtered out, "Potter's been sighted in Hogsmeade"

_**Let me know what you thought by leaving a review. Thank you for reading.**_


	22. The Calm Before The Storm

**AN:** Okay, so here it is. One more chapter before we get to see the actual Battle of Hogwarts. I (again) want to thank anyone who has reviewed this story or followed it or added it to their favourites, you have no idea how much that all means to me.

So about the chapter: I know it's short. Believe me, I know. But the next one will be longer as it will tell us what Astoria did while the battle was raging in Hogwarts as well as Draco's version of the battle itself. That leads to another question.

I'm really not sure how I'm going to continue this story. Should I just continue to write about what happened after the war, or should hat be a separate story?

Please tell me your opinion by either reviewing or sending me a message. Thank you.

Disclaimer: I still own none of this.

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><p>"What?" Astoria hissed. She couldn't believe it. What in the name of Merlin was Potter doing in Hogsmeade? Was he planning on getting himself killed? "Stupid suicidally brave Gryffindors", she muttered mostly to herself.<p>

"I heard them talking about it. The Gryffindors. I reckon he'll be here soon", Daphne said, still a bit out of breath. Astoria's eyes widened in horror.

"He's coming here? Why?"

"Well, I don't know for sure but I really can't figure out another reason for him to show up in Hogsmeade! Can you?" Daphne was obviously upset. Astoria had no trouble understanding why. If Potter was really coming to Hogwarts, it meant that there was going to be a fight. Astoria took a quick glance at the common room. No one was paying any attention to them, which was good. But then suddenly her eyes caught the sight of Draco. He was staring straight at her with a calculating look in his eyes. Astoria knew that look. She knew what that little darkness growing in his brilliantly grey eyes meant. He knew. He knew something was going on.

Astoria automatically straightened her back and tilted her head as if to ask why he was staring. It worked as she had hoped and Draco turned to stare at the green flames that always burned in the fireplaces of the Slytherin common room. And yet, Astoria couldn't get her eyes off of him. It was only now that she realized how much weight he had lost. How he looked almost starved. Of course the war had taken its toll on everyone, but Astoria could really see it in Draco. There was no longer that little spark of arrogance in his eyes and Astoria wasn't quite sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

Turning back to her sister, Astoria made a quick decision.

"You can't tell anyone about this," she whispered to Daphne.

"What?!" Daphne demanded.

"You can't tell anyone. Do you understand?" Astoria repeated.

"No! Since when are you the one to make these kind of decisions? I'm your older sister! I'm supposed to take care of you, not the other way around," Daphne hissed.

"Well maybe you should have thought about that earlier," Astoria snapped. She laughed a little coldly at the look of pure shock on Daphne's face. "You never cared about what I did. Never. I always looked out for myself and now I'm telling you that we're doing this my way, because frankly I don't trust your plans."

Daphne was quiet for a moment while trying to absorb Astoria's words. Astoria was of course right. Daphne had never even tried to take care of her sister when they had been younger. In fact, during Astoria's first years at Hogwarts, Daphny had done everything and anything she could to avoid her.

"You've changed. I don't even recognize you anymore," Daphne said, still talking with a hushed voice. Astoria only smiled a little sadly.

"Did it ever cross your mind that I've always been like this, but you just never noticed because you were too busy chacing after Zabini and Nott and Merlin knows who else?" she questioned.

"Oh? You really want to go there, do you? How about you and Malfoy? Are you sure that he's not the reason why you've changed?" Daphne was getting angrier by the second. She, as well as Astoria, realized that this wasn't the best time to have a fight, but the sisters still had a lot to say to each other.

"He has nothing to do with this," hissed Astoria. Daphne took a step back from her sister and suddenly she felt like she was laying her eyes on Astoria for the first time. Daphne had always thought of Astoria as the little, slightly clumsy girl that had been left to Platform 9 and 3/4 when Daphne had first gone to Hogwarts. But that girl was gone now. In front of her stood the new Astoria. With a small amount of regret Daphne realized that she barely knew this petite, dark haired, blue eyed woman who stood in front of her.

The mention of Harry Potter's name caught both of the Greengrass sisters' attention. Apparently Daphne wasn't the only one who had heard the rumours. Astoria saw both Grace and Emma walking towards her and whatever Daphne had meant to say, was left unknown to her as Grace immediately started talking talking when she reached Astoria. Astoria wasn't even really listening to Grace. She was too busy staring at the crowd of Slytherins in the common room.

When Daphne had come up to her that morning and said that they needed to escape, she'd accepted it. She had accepted the fact that everyone she knew was most likely going to end up dead or tortured at some point. But now that escaping was no longer an option, she felt frightened. Astoria knew that whatever reason Potter had to come to Hogwarts, it wouldn't end well. Wherever Potter went, trouble followed. It had always been like that.

Every Slytherin turned to look as the door to the common room opened. Professor Horace Slughorn stood there, wearing some sorts of pajamas. He looked over the crowd of Slytherins that were already in the common room and told them to get everyone who was still in the dormitories. Everyone began to move. Some went to the dormitories to get their friends while others were merely trying to find someone to talk to. Someone who would tell them what was going on. That was how Astoria found herself standing in the back of the common room with Draco Malfoy behind her.

She hadn't gone there by her own choice. The crowd of Slytherins had pushed her there. As Slughorn began to speak, Astoria felt something touch her hand. She looked down and saw that Draco's hand was only millimeters from hers and without hesitating she took it and squeezed. Slughorn didn't speak for long. The only thing Astoria heard was thet professor McGonagall had ordered all the houses to arrive to the Great Hall. Soon enough the Slytherins began to leave. Neither Draco nor Astoria moved.

"You're not coming are you?" she whispered. She had guessed it before Slughorn had even started to speak. On some level she'd always seen it coming.

"No," was Draco's simple answer.

Astoria said nothing. She just nodded. So she had been right. She let go of Draco's hand and closed her eyes. Behind her Draco did the same. He let his head fall down, without realizing that by doing so, he was laying his forehead against the back of her head. The sweet scent of raspberry filled his nostrils and he forgot everything that was going on. There was nothing else in the world except for Astoria. He took a deep breath, letting the air that lingered around Astoria fill his lungs.

The crowd had begun to move towards the door and Astoria knew that they only had a few seconds left before people would notice that neither of them was moving. She turned around as fast as she could and placed her lips on to Draco's. The kiss lasted only for a few milliseconds, and Draco could only describe it as heavenly.

"Don't die." And with those words, she was gone and once again, Draco stayed still, watching how Astoria walked away.

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><p>Astoria pushed through the crowd to her sister. She was mad. Mad at Daphne because she'd ignored Astoria for so long. She was mad at the Dark Lord for making her life a living hell. And so far, it didn't look like things were going to get better any time soon.<p>

The Great Hall was full of people since every student at Hogwarts had been summoned there. Astoria was too distracted to hear everything McGonagall was saying, but she did catch a few things like the fact that Snape had left Hogwarts and that all the students had to be evacuated. Everything that happed after that was only a blur to Astoria when she tried to remember it later.

The journey through some tunnel behind a painting to Hogsmeade. The Dark Lord's words in her head. The realization that there was going to be a battle.

Astoria stood still next to the three broomsticks with her sister. She didn't know what they were waiting for. Her sister knew how to apparate. It didn't take long though, before a small crowd had gathered around them. Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, Emma Travers, Grace Atwood, John Avery, even Pansy was there. They were all staring at Astoria. They all knew that three people were missing: Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Where are they?" Pansy asked, finally getting too tired of the silence.

"I don't know," Astoria replied. Blaise scoffed.

"Right. Are you expecting us to believe that Draco didn't tell you what he was up to?" he demanded. Astoria stared at Blaise. Her blue eyes stared straight into his brown ones.

"I don't know where he is. He might be dead for all I know," Astoria said. Her voice was so steady that it made all the Slytherins around her flinch a little.

All Astoria could think about was Draco's lips on hers. Somewhere in the back of her head a voice was screaming at her, telling her that she should have never kissed him. That she should have never revealed to him that she was worried about him. The voice was screaming that now Draco had the upper hand because he knew how she felt about him. But at the same time a much calmer voice in Astoria's head kept repeating: 'what if he dies, what if he dies. What then?' That voice was the one that scared her the most. It was the voice that told her she'd done the right thing. At least if he died somewhere, alone in the hands of either Potter and his followers or the Death Eaters, he'd know that someone out there would miss him. Someone other than his parents.

That thought ignited a whole new flame in Astoria's heart. His parents. How could they let their own son take the mark? Astoria suspected that it had been Lucius' idea. She didn't know Narcissa well enough to say that she hadn't been involved, but she liked to think that mothers always thought of what was best for their children. And everyone knew that getting the Dark Mark was hardly good for anyone.

"Tori?" Daphne asked carefully. She could see that her sister was thinking about something and it didn't take a genius to find out what that something - or someone - was. "He's probably on his way, you know."

"No, he's not," Astoria whispered so that only Daphne could hear her, "He stayed behind." Daphne's face got paler as she realized what Astoria had just said. Draco had decided to fight with the Death Eaters. Had he lost his mind?

With a frown Daphne realized the oddness of the situation. A few years ago she wouldn't have cared if Draco Malfoy had been killed by that bloody Hippogriff. Sure, it would have been a shame since he was kind of cute, but she didn't really care. But now all that Daphne could think about, was what if he died? And more importantly, how would Astoria handle it?

Astoria would be alright. At least that's what Theodore kept telling himself. He'd always liked the younger Greengrass sister and during the last year, Astoria had become like a little sister to him. Astoria had a lot in common with him. She was a bit more quiet than the other Slytherins, but she made that up by being twice as smart. That was why Theodore knew she'd be fine. Astoria was smart, therefore she was capable of taking care of herself.

"Well?" Pansy demanded suddenly, "Are we just going to stand here for the rest of the night?" Everyone seemed speachless. No one had really thought where they would go if they had to escape.

"We own a house in Scotland," Daphne confessed. Astoria's eyes widened in horror.

"Daphne! That was our grandmother's house! We haven't been there in years. We don't even know if it's still there!"

"Yes, but grandma left it for us and that's the last place where anyone would look for us. Besides, aren't you a witch? I'm sure we can fix it!" Daphne insisted. Everyone looked at Astoria. It was all up to her now.

"Fine," she said with a sigh, "but I'm not responsible if someone ends up dead because the house collapsed!"

And so Daphne held out her hand for her sister, who took it and held her own hand to Blaise who, for some reason, held her hand very gently and soon enough they were all holding hands. Daphne closed her eyes and with a small pop they apparated away from Hogsmeade.

**Thank you very much for reading.**


	23. The Battle of Hogwarts

**AN: **As I said before, this chapter is a little bit (alright, a lot) longer than the previous ones. This is also the second last chapter of this story. The next chapter will be the last one and it will also be a sort of a sneak peek at the upcoming sequel. So do not be worried. The story of Astoria and Draco is not over yet.

I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed and followed this story as well as added it to their favorites. You people make my day.

Disclaimer: I own none of this.

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><p>Astoria had forgotten how late it was. She'd forgotten and now that she stood outside her grandmother's house in northern Scotland the wind felt so cold. The others had already gone inside to see what it was like there, but Astoria had stayed outside. She didn't want the others to see how upset she was. She didn't want them to see how much her hands were shaking.<p>

Draco. Draco had stayed behind and it was all Astoria could think about. She'd left him there alone. She should've told him to stop being an idiot and run away with her. She should've told him that she didn't want him to stay. But she hadn't said any of that. She also knew that even if she had there was a very good chance Draco would not have come with her. And why did she even care? They weren't in love. Sure, he'd told her that he liked her, but that was far from saying that he loved her. Yet there was a nagging voice somewhere in the back of Astoria's head that kept asking: if you don't love him, why does leaving him hurt so much?

Why did it hurt? And what could she do to stop the pain? The answer obvious. She'd act like any other Slytherin would and let no one know how she felt. Out of sight, out of mind. That notion brought a little more comfort to her. Slytherins were good at taking care of themselves. And if she could make it through this war unharmed so could Draco.

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><p>The flames were getting closer. Draco couldn't believe that this was how he was going to the hell had Crabbe been thinking when he'd set the whole place on fire? Draco was on top of a pile of random junk keeping an eye on Goyle who had been hit by a stunning spell. Crabbe was gone. He'd fallen in to the flames. And even though Draco's mind was a mess he managed to close his eyes for a moment and concentrate. Concentrate on Astoria. If he was going to die then he certainly was going to die with her in his mind. No matter how frightened he was. Draco tried to remember the color of her eyes, the sweet smell of her hair and the gentle touch of her lips against his. The feel of Astoria's lips filled his mind in a second.<p>

When he finally opened his eyes Draco saw something extraordinary. Potter. Potter and his friends had turned back. They were coming back for Draco and Goyle. For a second Draco smiled. He wasn't going to die after all. Not yet.

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><p>They'd manage to make a fire in one of the old fireplaces. Everyone was huddled near the flames trying to warm up.<p>

"Where are Crabbe and Goyle?" Blaise asked. Everyone stared at him but to the surprise of all of them it was Pansy who spoke.

"Where do you think? At Hogwarts!"

Astoria felt like she wanted to scream. She had nothing to say. She just wanted to scream as loud as she could.

"Tori?" Daphne asked after seeing the distressed look on her sister's face, "I need your help with something." Astoria frowned but did what Daphne wanted.

The sisters entered a room that had once been the heart of the house; the kitchen. There was dust everywhere but it was still in better shape than Astoria had thought it would be.

"You know, after this war ends we could restore this house."

Astoria nodded lightly. Her mind was in no condition to think about anything that would happen after the war. She was tired but she couldn't sleep. Her whole body was exhausted but she refused to rest because she knew that everything could change in a moment. Draco could walk through that door any minute. Astoria's stomach turned upside down when she realized that there was no way that would happen. Even if Draco wanted to find her he couldn't because she hadn't told him where she was going.

"Astoria? Are you okay? Astoria!" There was a trace of panic in Daphne's voice. She had rushed to Astoria's side and her hand was now on her sister's shoulder.

"I'm fine", Astoria said with a shaky voice. She was doing her best to keep all her emotions in and so far it was working.

"What's happened?" Daphne inquired. Anger filled Astoria's body.

"Nothing", Astoria said sarcastically, "There's a war outside. People are dying and we're here! There's no way to receive any news from the battle. And what if Dr-" Astoria was going to say his name but managed to correct herself at the last second "-dad tries to find us? What if dad is out there trying to find us but he can't because we're here!"

"This has nothing to do with dad. Don't try to tell me otherwise. You're worried about Malfoy and I get it..."

"No!" Astoria insisted, "You don't know and please don't try to act like you do. You're my sister and this is something that I don't want to fight about. Not with you."

Daphne nodded. "I'll go see if the other's are okay."

"I'll be there soon."

As soon as Daphne had left the room, Astoria sat down next to the wall and pulled her knees up against her chest. Her heart was beating so fast that it was beginning to hurt. _This must be what panic feels like, _Astoria thought. She felt like the walls around her were coming closer but of course that wasn't real. Her mind was just playing tricks with her. In a desperate attempt to find something else to think, she began to think of Draco. It was odd how a little over a year ago she had been considered a blood-traitor by many of her fellow Slytherins and now some of those fellow Slytherins were her closest friends. She could remember how much Draco had hated her when they'd first met. How had that changed? And when?

When had she become Astoria Greengrass, the girl who spent time with Draco Malfoy instead of being Astoria Greengrass, the girl who got along with Luna Lovegood? Daphne's words were still bothering her. Had she really changed? And was it all because of Draco?

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><p>The battle had ceased. Just for a while everything was quiet. No one seemed to know where Potter was. Not that Draco really cared. He was hiding in a corner like he always did. He wasn't even entirely sure where in the castle this corner of his was located. It wasn't in the seventh floor, he was sure of that since he had ran away from the Room of Hidden Things very fast. He had no idea where Goyle was. Draco knew that that was wrong. He knew that he should have looked after Goyle since it wasn't like Goyle was the smartest person at Hogwarts. Or any other place he went to.<p>

Draco also blamed himself for another thing. No matter how huge the battle around him was he couldn't get Astoria out of his head. Draco hoped that Astoria was somewhere far away. Somewhere with her sister. Somewhere safe. He knew that the chances of them ever meeting again were getting smaller and smaller by the second. And just like that Draco's thoughts were thrown in to a different place. His parents. Where were they? He wasn't really worried about his father who had managed to weasel his way out of every difficult situation so far. But Draco was worried about his mother. His mother had always taken care of him no matter what he did. While Draco's father had never had a positive thing to say to him, his mother had always told him that she was proud of him. But now Draco was beginning to doubt that even his mother wouldn't stand the sight of him when the war ended.

_But, _Draco thought sadly, _if the Dark Lord wins, he'll kill me and if Potter wins I'll get sent to Azkaban._

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><p>Astoria had returned to the fireplace. Everyone had stared at her for a moment but after glaring back at them they had turned away. Presently Daphne and Pansy were talking about something trivial like dresses while Theodore and Blaise were doing their best to keep up a conversation about quidditch. Emma and Grace were both staring at the flames undoubtedly deep in thought. But even though Astoria wasn't interested in dresses and at the moment didn't really care about quidditch, she appreciated their efforts to try and make themselves comfortable at such a difficult time.<p>

"Are you okay?" a quiet voice asked beside Astoria. John. Astoria had nearly forgotten that he was there.

"I'm fine", Astoria lied. John shifted a little so that he was now facing Astoria. Astoria on the other hand was hoping that he would turn away. She could almost feel him preparing to ask some idiotic question.

"So what's going on between you and Malfoy?" And there it was. Astoria licked her lips while trying to come up with a quick way to explain things to John. He'd never been mean to her. But apparently Astoria didn't need to say anything.

"Because I think we should go out. On a date", John said firmly, "After the war's ended. But if you're with Malfoy...well...I don't particularly feel like competing with him..." Astoria made her decision in a split second.

"You're not competing with him. He hasn't...We haven't...We're not together."

The words hurt but they were true. Draco had never been that nice to her and Astoria was sure that he would never ask her out like John had. And maybe it was because Draco had decided to stay behind or maybe it was because Astoria was tired of the way Draco had treated her. During the hour that she had spent in the kitchen she had gone through every time they had spoken. She had recalled every word and every gesture between them. And she had remembered how sometimes Draco seemed to be almost in love with her and sometimes he seemed to hate her. Well that was going to end now. If he wanted to be with her he'd have to get himself together and tell her so.

"So you'll go out with me when this is all over? We could have dinner together", John said. He was a little worried. Astoria wasn't smiling. In fact she looked like she wanted to cry.

"Yes", Astoria whispered, "If we survive, I'll go out on a date with you."

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><p>Potter was dead. Draco stood among the crowd of Hogwarts students watching the looks of terror on their faces. The Dark Lord stood there as horrible as ever with Hagrid - that terrible half-giant who had nearly gotten Draco killed in his third year - who was carrying Harry Potter's lifeless body in his arms.<p>

"Harry Potter is dead!" the Dark Lord exclaimed. The army of Death Eater behind him laughed. Draco could see his parents. He could see how his father laughed and how his mother smiled a little. But there was something wrong with that smile. It didn't seem genuine. The Dark Lord continued talking, saying that now was the time for people to declare their loyalty to the Death Eaters. And it was at that moment that Draco's father decided to speak.

"Draco!" he demanded. Everyone around Draco turned to look at him but Draco didn't move. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. Did he really want to go back there? Did he really want to go back to his parents? Back to his aunt? Then suddenly a much softer voice called out.

"Draco." It was his mother. It was not a request. It was a command. His mother's tone was steady and strong. Draco bit his tongue and forced his legs to move. He walked slowly through the crowd of people who had fought for the freedom of Hogwarts and he was ashamed. And things were getting worse. Once Draco had reached the centre of the courtyard he passed by the Dark Lord who - to everyone's horror- hugged Draco. Draco did his best to keep his expression normal. When the Dark Lord let go, Draco went to his parents without a oword. His mother extended her hands in an obvious attempt to hug him but Draco couldn't move his hands. His head was completely empty. Potter was dead. It was over. He was never going to see Astoria again.

Not long after that Longbottom began to speak. Draco couldn't find in himself the strength to listen. He just stood there with his mother and stared. Clearly Longbottom was making some king of a grand speach. They were all listening to him: the Death Eaters, the Dark Lord and the Hogwarts students and teachers. But Draco heard none of it. He just watched how Longbottom took a sword from a hat - was it the sorting hat? - and at that second everyone began to move. Potter had fallen from Hagrid's arms and pointed his wand at the Dark Lord. No, at the Dark Lord's snake.

Draco just stared. He had no idea what had happened. All the Death Eaters charged towards the castle but Draco and his parents didn't move. Draco could hear his insane aunt screaming at his father. Screaming that he should come and fight. But Narcissa was already pulling her son away. She grabbed her son's hand and dragged him after her out of the courtyard. Even through the mess of thoughts going through his head Draco could feel hope building up inside of himself. Astoria. He'd get to see her again.

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><p>Her eyes felt heavy. Astoria was sitting with her back against the wall and she was barely able to keep her eyes closed. Theodore had left a while ago after saying that he couldn't stand just waiting anymore. Astoria suspected that he was on his way back to Hogwarts to see if the battle had ended. Slowly Astoria let her eyes close. Why couldn't it just be over? She was tired of the war. She was tired of being afraid for everyone she loved. For Daphne. And for Draco. And so Astoria drifted in to sleep.<p>

_She's back at Hogwarts. Astoria looks around but no one's there. It's so quiet. She can hear her own breathing echo through the grounds. She begins to walk towards the castle. When she enters through the front door she faces a terrible sight. Everyone's dead. The floor's covered with blood. There are bodies everywhere. Astoria can see Emma, Daphne, Theodore and even Blaise: all of them lay on the ground with their eyes wide open. But it does not take long before Astoria recognizes the blonde haired boy next to the stairs. She begins to run. The blood beneath her feet no longer bothers her as she kneels next to Draco's lifeless body. His eyes are closed and there's blood on the corner of his mouth. She can hear herself screaming Draco's name while she shakes his shoulders. But he doesn't move. He's dead. Astoria begins to cry. Her tears fall on to Draco's lifeless face, landing on his nose. She sits on the floor with Draco's head on her lap and sobs. And it hurts._

"Astoria!" Daphne's shaked Astoria's shoulders in a desperate attempt to awake her. Astoria had suddenly began to talk in her sleep. Her head turned from one side to another while she continued to whisper the word 'no' over and over again. "Astoria!"

Astoria's eyes flew open when her sister repeated her name louder than before.

"What is it?" Astoria asked. Daphne looked shaken although Astoria had no idea why.

"Theodore came back", Daphne informed, "The battle's over. Potter won."

For the first time in years Astoria flung her arms around her sister. She was so glad. Potter had won. Astoria couldn't believe how happy she was. The horrible nightmare she had just had didn't matter. None of it mattered. Everything was okay. They were all alive.

"Draco! Is he okay?" Astoria demanded, pulling away from her sister. Daphne gave Astoria a small smile.

"Well, Theodore said that Malfoy's alive but being okay might be an entirely different thing."

"Wait", Astoria looked around the spacious room of her grandmother's house, "where is everyone?"

"They left to find their relatives. You were asleep for over five hours." Astoria turned to look at the person who said those words. And even though it was not the man she had hoped to see, she was more than glad.

"Dad!" Astoria exclaimed as she ran to hug her father. She wasn't that close with her father but for once it seemed that Michael Greengrass was pleased to see his younger daughter. "What are you doing here?"

Astoria's father smiled for a moment. "I've been looking for the two of you", he said, "all night." Astoria observed her father's face. He seemed very tired which was most likely the result of searching for his daughters all night.

"We should go home", Michael Greengrass said. Astoria grabbed her father's hand while Daphne took Astoria's hand and they apparated home.

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><p>Draco flipped through the pages of a book while his parents were quietly discussing something. The whole Malfoy family had been escorted back to Malfoy manor after the battle had finally ceased and they had been placed under house arrest. They were not allowed to leave the manor. Not that they could have since none of the Malfoys had a wand.<p>

Draco's owl was sitting on the edge of his chair. He had also found his way to the manor and was anxiously waiting for Draco to give him a letter. But Draco had no intention of writing a letter to anyone. He had considered writing to Astoria of course but he had come to the conclusion that it would be better to give her some time and space. Draco had received a letter from Theodore about an hour ago which had explained how Theodore, Astoria, Daphne, Blaise and a few others had stayed at Astoria's grandmother's house during the battle. But there was one piece of unsettling information that Theodore had given. Apparently John Avery had also been there and Theodore had heard him ask Astoria out. But what truly made Draco's heart hurt was that the letter also said that Astoria had agreed to go out with John.

This was why Draco had decided to not write her. It was clear that she wasn't interested in hearing about him. But that didn't mean that Draco was planning on giving up. He was just going to give her some time.

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><p>May 6th 1998. Astoria scratched the date over from her calendar. The battle of Hogwarts had ended four days ago and the wizarding a world was slowly getting back to its feet. It seemed that the only thing the Daily Prophet or any other newspaper was interested in publishing was pictures and stories about Harry Potter, the saviour of the wizarding world.<p>

Astoria threw the Daily Prophet to the rubbish bin and closed her eyes. She swore that if she saw one more picture of Potter, Weasley or Granger she would vomit. It also didn't help that Astoria had been experiencing some terrible nightmares. She couldn't understand why. She'd never had nightmares like that. Not when she'd first learned that Draco was a Death Eater, not when she'd seen him in the hospital wing, not even when Dumbledore had died. But now she did. Now she was forced to watch all of her friends die every night. Every night she ran to Draco's bloody corpse and told him to wake up. He never did.

A sharp knock on the door of her room woke Astoria from her thoughts. "Come in." Astoria's father stepped in. He looked a little better already but anyone who saw him could see that he was still worried for his daughters, especially for his younger daughter.

"What is it?" Astoria asked while doing her best to hide the signs of her exhaustion.

"I was just thinking about a certain problem we have at St. Mungo's. We don't have enough staff. And then I remembered that you wanted to be a healer", Michael Greengrass said. Astoria frowned but nodded. Her father had never really supported her dream because it was not what Astoria's mother had wanted.

"Daphne told me about everything that happened at Hogwarts", Astoria's father said, "She also mentioned that you're very good with working under pressure. So that's why I was wondering if you would be interested in volunteering at St Mungo's." Astoria's eyes flew open as she turned to look at her father.

"Are you serious?"

"Very. You won't be paid but I don't think that's a problem. It'll be an advantage when you apply for your studies after Hogwarts. It'll also give you something to do." Astoria couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her father's mouth.

"I'd love to volunteer at St. Mungo's! Thank you so much!" For the second time that month Astoria rushed to hug her father. Michael Greengrass smiled at his younger daughter. He had always seen Astoria as someone who could manage well on her own while Daphne was in need of a little more help. Only recently Michael had realized that even though he had been right, it hadn't been wise to ignore his daughter the way he had. He loved both of his daughters and he had to admit to himself that he had somewhat neglected Astoria. The proof of that stood right before his eyes. He no longer had any idea of just who his daughter really was.

Astoria kept smiling the whole day but when it was time to go to sleep she no longer smiled. And just seconds after falling asleep her nightmares started again. Hogwarts. Blood. Daphne's dead. Blaise was dead. Theodore was dead. Draco was dead. In a matter of minutes Astoria had watched everyone die and she was kneeling next to Draco again. But this time the dream didn't end there.

_The blood is all over her hands. There's blood everywhere. Draco's not breathing. He does not open his eyes. Then suddenly Astoria hears steps behind her. She does not turn. She knows what is going to happen the second the person begins to speak. The voice belongs to Alecto Carrow. Astoria has time to see a small green flash and then everything is gone. The last thing she hears is Alecto screaming: "Avada Kedavra!"_

Astoria screamed. Sweat was dripping from her face. Her dark hair was a mess. Her room was dark but it was definitely her room. Not Hogwarts. Astoria stared at her hands and saw that there was no blood. She could hear someone running towards her room. Seconds later Daphne opened the door. She looked terrified.

"Are you okay?" Daphne asked as she rushed to Astoria's bed. Astoria just nodded. She hadn't told Daphne about the nightmares and she didn't plan on telling her now. The sisters spent the next few minutes in silence as Daphne observed her sister's face.

"You know", she said after a while, "I'm going to restore grandma's house and I could really use some help. So I thought that maybe you could help me."

"I promised father that I would volunteer at St. Mungo's."

"Yes, but you could help me after work. You can work the mornings at St. Mungo's and the afternoons and evenings with me at grandma's house."

A smile spread on Astoria's face. She could see the plan that her sister had and even though it was obvious, Astoria had to admit that it was quite clever.

"Did you arrange this with father? First I work at St. Mungo's and then with you in Scotland so I don't have any time for myself. No time to meet people. Especially Draco." Daphne shook her head.

"I didn't talk to dad about this and I certainly don't mean that you shouldn't have time for yourself. The fact that it'll keeps you away from Malfoy is just a bonus."

"Why do you hate Draco so much?" Astoria asked. The smile on her face faltered a little.

"I don't hate him. I just think you need a little time away from him. You need to clear your head. You need time. Both of you need a little time away from each other. You..." Daphne stopped when she noticed that Astoria was no longer listening. She had fallen asleep. Daphne smiled a little before getting up and leaving Astoria's room. The second the door closed Astoria opened her eyes. She was tired and she had not wanted to hear Daphne go on and on about how Draco was a bad person. But before Astoria closed her eyes again, she admitted that it was possible that Daphne was right. Maybe she and Draco needed a little time away from each other.

But Astoria wasn't sure if she could stay away from him. Every time she attempted to remember all the bad things Draco had done she saw his grey eyes staring at her and felt his lips press softly against hers. And thanks to the heavenly memory of Draco's lips, Astoria saw no more nightmares that night.

**What do you think? Will Astoria be able to stay away from Draco? How will her relationship with John go? And what is Draco prepared to do to get Astoria away from John? Tell me what you thought by leaving a review. **


	24. Memories That Won't Fade, part I

**AN:** This was originally supposed to be the last chapter but soon after I began writing this I realized there were so many things I wanted to write that they couldn't possibly fir in to one chapter. So now the second part, which I will publish soon (I promise) will be the last one. I really want to thank everyone who's ever read this story, you guys really mean a lot.

Now about this chapter: **The events of this chapter take place roughly six months after the war** and I know there are some things in here that you may not have expected, but I still hope you will like it.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter

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><p>King's Cross was full of people waiting for their children to come out of the Hogwarts Express. It was almost Christmas and the wizarding world was doing its best to get back on its feet. At first Astoria tried to spot her father but then she remembered how he had told her that he had a lot of work to do, so he couldn't be there. With a sigh Astoria made her way through the crowd.<p>

The Greengrass house looked warm and inviting and Astoria couldn't help the little smile that made its way to her lips as she stared at it. Before she even had time to knock, Daphne pulled the door open and in a moment of unnatural happiness, she hugged her sister tightly. Daphne had chosen not to go and repeat her seventh year at Hogwarts. This had been the decision of most students, but some persistent ones (like that Hermione Granger whose face was always somewhere on the Daily Prophet) had chosen to go back.

"I was just packing my things!" Daphne exclaimed while gesturing wildly around the entrance hall. Astoria dragged her extremely heavy trunk inside and looked around. There was nothing there.

"Uh, what exactly have you been packing?" she asked.

"Well all the Christmas decorations of course! Don't you remember? We're spending the Christmas at the cottage!" No, Astoria had not forgotten about that. She and her sister had worked all summer to repair their grandmother's old house. It had been hard work but with the help of a few spells from one of their mother's old books they had come to a result that was more than satisfying. They had also got in to the habit of calling it the cottage.

"I also went there earlier to make sure all the food was there," Daphne said while walking towards the kitchen with Astoria barely keeping up. Astoria's brain was working a little slow so it took her a while to realize the meaning behind her sister's words.

"You haven't invited people over, have you?" she asked with horror all over her pale features. Daphne turned to look at Astoria.

"Why of course I have! It's Christmas and Christmas should be spent with friends!"

"Friends?" Astoria said with a carefully arched eyebrow, "Exactly who are these friends of yours?"

"Well I invited Blaise and Pansy and Graham."

Astoria felt like Christmas had been ruined. She understood why her sister had invited Graham Montague - they were dating after all - but why on earth had she invited Pansy? And Blaise?

"So what you're saying is you invited all of your friends and none of mine?" Astoria said. Daphne had turned to get a glass of water so Astoria couldn't see her face.

"Well you can invite John if you want to," Daphne said. Astoria flinched a little. She and John (for reasons Astoria herself didn't know) were still together. At first she had agreed to go out with him once in the hope that Draco would pluck up the courage and ask her out. But apparently this had been too much to ask since Astoria hadn't heard from Draco in nearly six months. She had only seen him once when she had been on her way to St. Mungo's. He'd been going towards the ministry and when he caught the sight of Astoria he had practically run away.

But things with John weren't going that well. Astoria had only begun to talk to him because of Draco all those months ago and she had never really been interested. This was a subject Grace had brought up often during the past semester at Hogwarts. Grace had tried to convince Astoria to at least write to Draco but Astoria had been too proud to do that. And now that John and Astoria had been sort of together for six months, people expected them to be serious about their relationship. But to be honest every time Astoria kissed John (which was very, very rarely) she thought about Draco and that didn't really do any good to her relationship with John.

"I'd rather not invite him, to be honest."

"Trouble in paradise?" Daphne asked while turning to face her sister. "You know, you two make such a lovely couple," she mused, "Oh, and I saw this beautiful dress yesterday on Diagon Alley and you know what I thought the second I saw it? I thought it would be perfect for your wedding. I mean, you two are getting quite serious, aren't you?" Astoria felt like she wanted to vomit. Not once during the last months had she thought about marrying John. The thought of having to spend the rest of her life with him was a very frightening one.

"Well I wouldn't plan on buying that dress quite yet." Daphne looked shocked, but who could blame her. Astoria had become a very good actress because of all the secrets she knew about Draco.

"Anyway," Astoria continued, "I've got to go visit Diagon Alley."

"Ooh do you mind if I join you?" Daphne asked.

"Actually yes. I'm going to buy some presents so you really can't be there," Astoria said with a small smile. But that was only half of the truth. After the war had ended and with that Daphne's education at Hogwarts, Daphne had had a lot more time for herself. Or in other words, a lot more time for her boyfriend. During the last months Astoria had read letters from Daphne that were full of signs that she was deeply in love and frankly, it disgusted Astoria. She wasn't used to seeing Daphne like this. She was used to seeing Daphne ordering people around and being mean, not staring at some bloke with wide eyes and giggling at everything the stupid man had to say. Because honestly, Graham Montague was not exactly an interesting person.

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><p>Diagon Alley was quite full of people as Astoria entered it. People were chatting merrily and pointing at things they had asked from their friends and relatives for Christmas. It didn't take Astoria long to find the familiar face she had been looking for. Theodore stood among the crowd looking very uncomfortable. Astoria let out a short but honest laugh as she saw how Theodore did his best to avoid the little children who were dashing about.<p>

"So how have you been?" Astoria asked once they had finally found their way to a café. Theodore was the only person who had written Astoria regularly during the last few months. But there was a lot Astoria didn't know about. Like where had Theodore disappeared during the summer? But she was going to find out.

"I've been good. I mean, my dad got sent to Azkaban and the aurors raided the entire house and messed everything up, but otherwise it's been great." Theodore's voice was thick with sarcasm. "And I've spent quite a lot of time with Draco." Astoria nearly spilled her tea. The thought hadn't really even crossed her mind. Of course Theodore had talked to Draco. They were good friends.

"How is he?" Astoria asked carefully. Theodore observed his friend for a moment. Astoria had become like family to him. She was like the little sister he never had and it was because of this that he felt he needed to be honest to her, for once.

"He's miserable. Just like you."

"I'm not miserable!" Astoria protested.

"Oh come on," Theodore argued, "I know that he got pissed about you and John dating but I thought you two would have come to your senses by now. You're acting like little children! Both too bloody proud to admit anything!"

Astoria was silent. She didn't want to be lectured. She knew exactly how right Theodore was but there was no way in hell she was going to admit that. Instead, she just kept a straight face and sipped her tea.

"How are his parents?" Astoria asked innocently. Truth be told she had been shocked when all of the Malfoys had managed to stay out of Azkaban. She had expected (and almost hoped) that at least Lucius would be sent away.

"I don't really know. He doesn't talk about them much. He bought his own flat with some of the money he got from his late grandfather and as far as I know he doesn't really visit his parents that often." Theodore was amused to see how Astoria was unable to hide her interest in Draco's affairs.

"Well what does he do then?" Astoria questioned.

"You know I was planning on hosting a small Christmas party?" Theodore mused while observing the people outside through the window. Astoria rolled her eyes at his obviousness.

"No, you haven't mentioned that. Who's coming?"

"Well, me - obviously - Emma, Grace, you and possibly Draco."

"I might not be able to make it," Astoria replied, "Daphne wants me to spend Christmas with her and Pansy." Theodore burst out laughing and quite a few people around them turned to see what was happening.

"You can't be serious," Theodore said once he'd calmed down.

"Oh I'm very serious." Astoria yawned. She was really tired since she hadn't been able to sleep on the train. Not to even mention the nightmares she had when she was able to sleep. Astoria had hoped with all her heart that once the first shock of the war ending was over the nightmares would stop, but that hadn't happened. The nightmares just kept coming back and so far Astoria hadn't found a single way to make them stop. She had been desperate enough to go and see a specialist when she had been volunteering at St. Mungo's and she'd even gotten a sleeping potion that was supposed to help but she had soon discovered that it didn't work.

"But seriously, Astoria, can you come?" Theodore looked a lot more serious now and the decision making didn't take Astoria long.

"Of course I will," she replied while trying to come up with a way to tell Daphne about it. The answer appeared in the form of a rather expensive Christmas present that Astoria found. It was a beautiful bracelet, one that she knew Daphne would love. Just as she was packing Daphne's gift to her purse, a sudden idea came to her.

"Hey, let's go to Flourish and Blott's!" she said. Theodore frowned but followed.

Without noticing it, Astoria had soon drifted over to the section where all the potion books were. The memories of her Christmas present from Draco came right back to her as she traced her fingertips over the covers of the fancy looking books. She picked one of them up and twirled it in her hands. It was a rather thick and old looking book and when she read a few pages, Astoria discovered that there were some pretty complicated potions described in that book.

"Planning on a present for a boyfriend?" an elderly witch asked while observing Astoria with kind eyes.

"No," Astoria said, "for a friend. Maybe. I don't know. I know nothing about potions." The elderly witch took a step closer so she could see which book Astoria was holding.

"Oh that is a marvelous present for a young man that enjoys potions. I gave one just like that to my husband a few years ago. My dear Tommy died last year. That book still lies on his nightstand."

Astoria felt like her heart had stopped. The pain was so clear in the witch's voice that it almost hurt Astoria.

"How do you know that I'm buying this for a young man?" Astoria asked in a desperate attempt to lighten the mood. It succeeded and the elderly witch smiled warmly at Astoria again.

"It's the look in your eyes, dear. You'd recognize it yourself if you had a mirror in your hand right now. That's what my dear Tommy used to say. Love can always be seen in the eyes," the witch said.

"What-," Astoria asked quietly, "What happened to Tommy?" The witch gave Astoria a sad but somehow understanding look.

"He was a muggleborn so the Death Eaters killed him," she said. Astoria felt like she'd been hit with a stunning spell.

"Oh do not worry yourself over such matters, darling," the old witch said, "You've got your entire life ahead of you."

Astoria stared with her mouth slightly open as the witch turned and trotted away. Without completely realizing what she was doing, Astoria bought the book and hugged it against her chest as she walked down Diagon Alley with Theodore.

"Who's that for?" Theodore asked with an amused grin.

"No one," Astoria's voice was shaky and it stopped all comments that were about to escape Theodore's mouth.

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><p>Once Astoria reached home she went straight to her own room and sat on her bed. She just sat there, completely still, for almost an hour. She kept her eyes closed and tried to make all the memories go away. The old woman's words had brought back old emotions. Emotions that Astoria didn't want to feel. Guilt and fear had rushed back as if they had never left. For six months Astoria had done everything in her power to avoid thinking about the war. She'd kept herself busy the entire summer with work at St. Mungo's and at the cottage. But now all the memories had come back.<p>

Astoria dropped the book she had bought and rushed to her trunk that she'd brought in to her room earlier. She started pulling out the clothes and books until she found what she was looking for. _50 potions for healing._ Astoria opened the book and traced the words written by Draco with her forefinger. The familiar smell and feel of the book gave little comfort but it was better than nothing.

Astoria spent the following few days decorating the cottage with Daphne who had somewhat reluctantly accepted that Astoria would spend at least Christmas eve at Theodore's house but that was only because Astoria hadn't mentioned that Draco would be there. Astoria had also noticed that from time to time, Daphne turned to give her a weird look and when that had been going on for the entire morning on Christmas Eve, Astoria couldn't take it anymore.

"What is it?" she asked Daphne. Daphne, oblivious to the fact that Astoria had noticed her staring, lookied rather confused.

"What?"

"Why do you keep looking at me like something's wrong? What aren't you telling me?" Astoria demanded. Daphne turned to poke the fireplace with a stick before turning back to her sister.

"You're getting a little paranoid, Tori," she said. The whole cottage was silent for a moment. Then after a moment had passed, Daphne went upstairs. Astoria just stood in the middle of the living room, not quite sure of what exactly was going on. Soon Daphne returned with a weird looking package and an envelope.

"Merry Christmas Tori," she said and handed her the package. Astoria opened it and blinked.

"What...uh...what is it?" she asked as she held up the piece of clothing Daphne had bought her.

"It's a bathrobe. Every girl should have one and I noticed that you didn't. And this one's from me too. Sort of," Daphne said as she handed Astoria the envelope. Inside the envelope was a key. It was a key to a vault at Gringotts, that much Astoria could say just by the shape of it.

"It's the key to mum's vault." Astoria looked at her sister in shock. Their mother had been an only child so when she had died, her family's vault at Gringotts had been left to the Greengrass family.

"Thank you," Astoria whispered before hugging her sister. While she was hugging Daphne, Astoria happened to look up at the huge clock that hung on the wall and she nearly screamed in shock.

"I need to be at Theodore's house in fifteen minutes!" Astoria exclaimed and literally jumped away from Daphne. Astoria ran upstairs in to the small room that she stayed at whenever she spent time at the cottage and grabbed her bag. For a moment she stopped to stare at the potion book she had bought earlier. Without hesitating, she opened it and scribbled a few words onto the first page, knowing that those words would be needed later. Then with the book in her bag and her cedar wand in her hand, Astoria apparated to the Nott manor.

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><p>The place looked rather terrifying at first sight and it didn't really get better once Astoria went closer to the house. Everything looked dark and a little dead and Astoria made a mental note to tell Theodore that maybe hiring a gardener wouldn't be such a bad idea. With her hands shaking slightly from the cold Astoria knocked on the huge front doors. Soon enough the door opened but Astoria couldn't see who opened it until she looked down. A tiny, miserable looking house elf stood holding the door opened and bowing to her.<p>

"Uh, hello," Astoria greeted. She'd never really dealt with these situations before since her family didn't have an elf.

"Master Theodore is waiting in the library, miss. May I take your coat, miss?" the elf was being very nice and Astoria handed her coat over a little unsure about whether or not the elf could manage it. The coat was at least twice the size of the elf but the elf seemed to be used to it. Astoria wasn't entirely sure that was a good thing.

"This way miss," the elf said after returning from the small room next to the door. The elf led Astoria through the house to the door of the library. Astoria stepped inside, expecting to see a comfortable little room with a few book shelves, but instead she found herself in a huge room with shelves upon shelves lining the walls. She couldn't quite believe her eyes.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Theodore asked from the armchair he was sitting. Astoria just nodded.

"My grandparents started it. There used to be more but the aurors took some of them when they raided the house. Apparently the books had explicit information on the dark arts, whatever that means." Astoria tried to smile at Theodore's explanation but she was still too shocked to react to anything.

A knock on the door echoed through the entire house. Astoria turned to look but soon realized that whoever it was, they must have knocked on the front door. She could hear muffled words but she couldn't hear who was talking. The doors of the library opened slowly and just from the scent that flowed in Astoria could tell who it was. Draco Malfoy stood in front of her wearing a suit and holding a wine bottle in his left hand. He still looked pale but not as haunted as before. He stared straight into Astoria's eyes and Astoria could feel herself getting lost in his eyes again.

His body language didn't show any emotion as he closed the door behind himself but Astoria, who was still staring at his grey eyes, could see the emotions that his heart held within. Pain. Surprise. Regret. But above all an emotion that Astoria couldn't quite name but she was very aware of what it felt like. The feeling that you had finally found something that you thought you'd lost. All of a sudden the words of the elderly witch came back to her. _Love can always be seen in the eyes. _But of course this wasn't love, right?

"Do you want me to leave?" Theodore asked with an amused tone. Astoria and Draco both shot him a look that shut him up at once. Astoria turned to look at Draco only to find that he was already looking at her. He swallowed and Astoria prepared for whatever he was about to say. Draco smiled a little before saying:

"You look good."

_**Reviews are greatly appreciated. **_


	25. Memories That Won't Fade, part 2

**AN: **So this is it. The last chapter of this story. But do not worry, the first chapter of the sequel is already published and you can go and check it right after you have read this (if you want to, of course). The sequel is called **Frozen Hearts and Flames of Love.** And to answer an anonymous review: yes, John and Luna will both appear in the sequel. But without any more words, here it is. The last chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't (unfortunately) own Harry Potter

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><p>"You look good."<p>

Draco's words seemed to hang in the air for a moment and for those few seconds Astoria couldn't do anything. She couldn't breathe or even blink. She felt completely paralyzed, all because of a simple realization: she had forgotten the sound of his voice. In Astoria's nightmares Draco never really spoke. He tried to, but he always died before he had the chance to say anything and because of that for a fleeting moment Astoria feared that she was dreaming.

"Thank you," she finally managed to whisper. Draco stared at her with his brow furrowed, obviously aware that something wasn't right.

"Astoria?" Theodore asked from the armchair, "Are you alright?" Astoria nodded.

"Yes. I'm quite alright. I just...haven't slept well."

"Spending too much time with your boyfriend?" asked Theodore who was smirking. An awkward silence settled upon the room. Theodore looked a bit ashamed of himself, Astoria was simply horrified and Draco looked about ready to vomit.

"Actually no," Astoria said once she had finally recovered from her shock, "I have nightmares." Astoria wasn't quite sure what had made her confess this, let alone to Theodore and Draco. She hadn't even told Emma about her nightmares. No one knew about them.

"What do you have nightmares about?" Theodore asked.

"Death."

"Why?"

"The healer said that I have a very active imagination and that that with all the stress and emotional turmoil I went through causes me to have nightmares. He gave me a sleeping potion."

"Did it work?" Theodore asked, leaning forward in his chair.

"Yes," Astoria knew that the lie wasn't great but it would have to do. There was a knock on the front door and it echoed through the entire house.

"I'll get that!" Theodore said and ran out of the room.

"Don't you have a house-elf to do that?" Draco asked but Theodore didn't hear him.

"Do you have nightmares?" Astoria asked. Draco opened his mouth but then closed it again.

"Y-yes," he said hesitantly, "sometimes."

"What do you dream about?"

"Nothing that would interest you." Draco's tone was both mean and final. Astoria stared at her feet. It was a thing she always did when people (usually Daphne or her father) were mean to her.

"Look Asto...Are you crying?!" Astoria looked up with anger all over her face.

"No, I'm not crying!"

"Well I didn't know what to think. You just mentioned having nightmares and Theodore told me you and John have been fighting and..."

"Excuse me?!" Astoria was furious, "John and I are doing just fine, thank you very much." She did her best to keep her voice steady even though her head was about to explode from the sheer need to hit something. Why had Theodore told Draco that she and John were fighting? It was true, but that didn't really give Theodore the right to tell people. And what bothered Astoria even more was the tone of Draco's voice when he spoke to her. He talked to her the way he talked to Theodore and Emma and the rest of her friends. He didn't sound like he really cared what he was saying. Had he lost all interest in her?

"You're not a very good liar, Astoria."

"Well that can't be true since everyone seems to think that John and I are madly in love." The words escaped Astoria's lips before she had time to think. An almost mad smile spread on Draco's lips. At that moment the doors to the library opened and Theodore returned with Emma walking right behind him.

"Astoria!" Emma exclaimed and came to hug her friend. Astoria laughed and hugged her back even though Emma's behaviour was a little confusing.

"Draco." Emma nodded to Draco and then looked from Astoria to Draco and back. She then raised one eyebrow rather suggestively. Astoria just shook her head in slight embarrassment. Why couldn't Emma act normally?

"So how's John?" Oh, so apparently Emma hadn't finished yet.

"He's fine. I suppose. Still alive."

"Still? That's nice. Very nice," Emma said, "How about you Draco? Have you found someone to spend the rest of your miserable life with? Or are you still with Pansy?"

"How about you mind your own business and I won't have to..."

"Okay. Drinks? Anyone?" Theodore interrupted Draco before the latter had a chance to say something stupid.

"Oh, I'd love a cup of tea," said Astoria. Theodore gave her a small smile, letting her know how glad he was that she had decided to play along. Then his expression changed to normal right before asking:

"Are you sure? I have some excellent wine in the cellar."

"Yes, just tea for now. Thank you, Theodore," Astoria said. Theodore nodded and proceeded to ask Draco and Emma what they wanted to drink. After hearing that they both wanted wine he left to retrieve the bottle of wine himself.

"Why doesn't he just get the house elf to bring it?" Emma asked. Astoria looked at Draco, assuming that he had an answer but instead she found Draco staring at her with an odd look on his face. It was a mixture of concentration and another emotion Astoria couldn't quite identify. Anger? Desperation? Jealousy?

"This house is huge," Emma said with admiration all over her voice and features. Astoria kept staring at Draco who looked ready to say something. But right before Astoria's eyes, something in Draco's eyes changed as he looked at her and he didn't say a word. Astoria let out a little sigh. She moved for the first time since Emma had arrived and walked next to the huge windows that offered an amazing view in to the garden.

"It's beautiful," Astoria whispered, "I wonder how Theodore has the time to take care of it?"

"He doesn't take care of it," said Draco sharply, "he has house-elves for that." Astoria turned her head slightly to look at Draco. He had taken a few steps closer at some point. Emma was standing behind him with a serious face but with laughter in her eyes.

"Well how many house elves does he have?" Astoria asked while turning back to stare out of the window. She could hear how Draco came closer and when he spoke his voice came from only a few feet away from her.

"More than enough," said Draco. Behind them, Theodore re-entered the room with a bottle of wine.

"How does he expect us to drink if he didn't bring any...?" Emma gestured at Theodore, obviously referring to the lack of glasses.

"The house-elves will take care of that," replied Theodore while setting down the bottle.

"Like I said, more than enough house-elves," Draco whispered in Astoria's ear. Draco was clearly amused but Astoria didn't find it funny. The feeling of knowing that Theodore had more than one of these creatures working for him, in what she could only assume weren't the best conditions, made her feel a little sick.

"Are you alright?" Draco's voice was full of concern and Astoria closed her eyes, refusing to turn around and face Draco in the fear that she wouldn't find that same concern in his eyes.

"I wonder if the garden is as beautiful as it looks from here?" she said instead.

"Probably not. There's a dead squirrel behind that tree. That much I'm sure of," Draco said while pointing at a tree right next to a small pond, "Theo and I found it when we were 6 or 7." Astoria smiled. She hadn't known that Theodore and Draco had known each other for so long. She knew that they went back a long way but she'd always thought that they'd become friends at Hogwarts.

"Don't tell me you killed the squirrel," said Astoria with a playful tone.

"Of course not! What kind of a man do you think I am?" Draco sounded truly insulted. Astoria, on the other hand, was laughing and soon enough a smile spread on Draco's face. He quickly changed it to a face of disapproval.

"Stop it Greengrass," he said, "You're embarrassing us." Astoria bit her lip in a desperate attempt to stop the laughter from escaping her mouth. Astoria could see Theodore and Emma exchanging a knowing look. It made Astoria a little angry. What right did they have to laugh behind her back? But on the other hand she could understand why. She would have done the same thing.

But then Astoria noticed Emma and Theodore exchanging another glance. Astoria might not have had as many boyfriends as Daphne or even some girls her own age, but she knew what it looked like when two people were attracted to each other. But Theodore and Emma? Astoria had known that Emma thought Theodore was attractive but she hadn't seen this coming. Why hadn't Emma told her about this? In the back of Astoria's head a little voice asked what else Emma hadn't told her about? Astoria frowned. What was she thinking? Emma was her friend.

"Theodore!" Draco suddenly said, "I'm going to show Astoria the garden." Astoria was a little surprised. Had Draco seen the same thing she had or did he just want to spend some time alone with her?

"But Grace will be here in a moment," Theodore protested.

"Oh please," said Astoria, "She's always late." During the last six months Grace had proved herself to be a very valuable friend. Grace was always knew what people were talking about and most of the Slytherins liked her. But she also talked a lot. Sometimes too much, which was why she was always late.

Theodore shrugged. Astoria spared him and Emma one last glance before following Draco out. She could've sworn that Emma was smiling a little. Turning back to stare at Draco, Astoria began to think. His walk had changed. He seemed a little more relaxed but Astoria could still see that his hand was tightly around his wand. Astoria smiled a little before she took his arm. Draco looked surprised.

"What? I'm unfamiliar with the grounds. I don't want to get lost," said Astoria. Draco nodded but Astoria could see him smiling when he thought she wasn't looking.

After walking around for a while, Draco and Astoria arrived to the small pond next to the tree Draco had pointed out earlier. It was beautiful and in Astoria's opinion, not something you expected to find in a place like the Nott manor. They just stood there staring at the water. Then suddenly Draco left. Astoria stared after him but didn't say anything. Draco was troubled and Astoria knew that. Maybe just like her, he too needed a little time to gather his thoughts every once in a while. But then, Draco reappeared.

"Come here," he said. Astoria raised him an eyebrow and then glanced down at the ground. She was wearing shoes with small heels and every time she took a step, the heels sank in to the wet ground.

"If the only reason why I'm doing this," Astoria hissed while making her way to Draco, "is because you want to show me a dead squirrel, I'm going to be very mad at you."

"Aren't you already mad at me?" Draco's question would have been funny if he's voice hadn't sounded so very serious.

"No." Astoria stopped halfway to Draco and stared. Draco stood under the massive tree with his hands in his pockets and his mouth slightly open. He had been caught by surprise, that much was certain. He closed his mouth slowly and gave Astoria a small, but obviously fake, smile.

"Okay," he said and extended his hand, "Now come on. They're going to be spying on us if we don't find cover." Astoria nodded and made the rest of her way to Draco as gracefully as possible. Once there, she took Draco's hand in an attempt to balance herself.

"Perhaps a different pair of shoes next time?" asked a clearly amused Draco. Astoria gave him an ice-cold glare but instead of making him cower in fear she made him laugh.

"I've missed you Greengrass." The honest look on his face made Astoria's heart melt a little.

"I've missed you too," she replied. Draco turned to stare at her and she stared right back. His eyes were the most amazing shade of grey. Astoria couldn't understand why she hadn't noticed it before. Or maybe she had. She wasn't sure. Slowly her eyes shifted from his eyes to his lips. She could still remember what it had been like to kiss those lips right before the beginning of the Battle of Hogwarts. She could still remember the way they had felt the first time they'd touched her lips. She could still remember how different his lips were from his personality. Draco could sometimes be a very cold person. He would say hurtful things and words that disgusted Astoria sometimes fell from those lips but when those lips were pressed against hers she forgot all about that. Because then all she could feel was the softness of his lips against hers and that was enough.

Without realising it, both of them had begun to lean closer. Right at the moment when their lips were about to touch, Astoria's heel sank in to the ground and she fell forward straight in to Draco's arms. Draco caught her and helped her back up but he kept his arm around her waist. Astoria could feel the heat on her cheeks and it angered her. Why did her face have to betray her and reveal to Draco how ashamed she was for not being able to handle heels as gracefully as Daphne.

"I have something for you," said Astoria suddenly after remembering the book she had bought. Draco frowned and released his hold of Astoria to allow her to dig the book from her bag. She handed it to him and he just stared at the cover for a moment. Then he opened it and Astoria could see something change in his eyes. Before they had held a look of confusion but now they were full of understanding.

"_I sincerely hope this will help you achieve whatever it is you want to achieve,_" Draco's voice was steady as he read the words Astoria had written on to the first page. He looked up at her and she gave him a small smile.

"It's a bit unoriginal but I like it," Draco said, "I didn't get you anything." Astoria just shook her head.

"It's alright. I felt I owed you a potions book. It would be terrible if one day someone found out Draco Malfoy had been nice to me and that I had ignored that."

"It doesn't matter. I have to get you a gift," said Draco, "so start dreaming Greengrass. If you could have anything in the world right at this very second, what would it be?"

_You._ The answer echoed through Astoria's head like a disease that refused to let go. She shook her head. No. She was with John now and even though she wasn't truly happy with him, that did not give her the right to want Draco. Nothing gave her the right to want Draco. He was a former Death Eater. He was by all accounts a man no woman should want to be with. He was broken and damaged and possibly beyond repair. But he was Draco.

"Have you come up with any nice ideas?" he asked.

"Huh?" Astoria had no idea what Draco had just said. She had been so lost in her own thoughts about him that she'd forgotten he was really there.

"What is that you want? What would you want if you could get anything and everything that you ever dreamed of?" Draco took a step closer and Astoria let out a nervous laugh.

"I would like a steaming cup of hot chocolate?" she said. Draco shook his head.

"Liar. Try again," he said while taking another step closer to Astoria.

"What gives you the right to call me a liar?" Astoria whispered when they stood face to face, only inches between them.

"I'm a selfish Death Eater with no heart. Or, if I am to believe you, my heart is made of ice," Draco whispered. He placed the book Astoria had given him at the root of the tree under which they were standing.

"Hmm, but do you remember what else I said?"

"Yes, you said that somewhere there is a flame for each frozen heart." Draco smiled at the memories that came with those words.

"So have you found your flame?" Astoria asked quietly. They were standing so closely that Astoria was completely surrounded by his scent.

"I think I may have," said Draco softly.

"What is she like?"

"I think you would like her. Although..." Draco got distracted by a stand of hair that had fallen in front of Astoria's right eye. He brushed it away, brushing his thumb gently over her cheek.

"Although what?" Astoria was rather desperate to know what he was going to say.

"Although I'm not entirely sure if I am the one with a frozen heart or if I am the flame that is meant to melt her heart." Astoria couldn't stop herself. She let out a bright laugh.

"Who knew Draco Malfoy was capable of words like that?" she asked. Draco narrowed his eyes at her as she continued to grin.

"Come here," he finally said. Astoria was about to say that she couldn't really come any closer but then Draco was suddenly kissing her and she forgot everything she had meant to say or do.

Astoria was about to push him away when she realised something. She didn't have to push him away. There was no war to be fought. No battle to run away from. No reason at all to let him go. Alright so perhaps John was a reason to let go, but who said she would have to tell John? And either way they had only been going out for six months, he couldn't possibly expect them to get married or anything. There was absolutely no reason to let Draco go.

Astoria wrapped her arms around Draco's neck and kissed him back. After a moment Draco pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.

"There's something for you to think about the next time you meet Avery," he said. They were almost the exact same words he had said when he'd first kissed her. That too had been a decision that he had made without thinking it through but by now he was beginning to think it might've been one of the best, and at the same time one of the most stupid decisions he'd ever made. And he didn't regret it.

"I don't think I'm going to tell him about this," Astoria muttered before Draco kissed her lips softly. It was just a small peck but Astoria still felt as if he was stealing her breath away.

She would have to find a way to explain this to John. She would also have to find away to explain to John why they couldn't spend the rest of their lives together. _How the hell am I supposed to do that? _Astoria thought. How was she supposed to explain to him that being with Draco felt right.

But Astoria also knew that just like their first kiss, this kiss with Draco did not mean the end of their troubles. She knew it was only the beginning of something far more greater. Something she could not prepare for. Something that Hogwarts or any other school in the world could not prepare her for. But Astoria was ready. She could remember her father telling her that life threw challenges at people and that the way people handled those challenges was what truly defined them.

But at the same time another odd thought entered Astoria's mind. A thought that was at the same time so insane but on the other hand entirely plausible. Perhaps every frozen heart did indeed have a flame bright enough to melt it. And perhaps she and Draco were the flame and the frozen heart. But perhaps it was not in the way she had imagined. Perhaps she had been the one with the frozen heart all along.

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><p><strong>Thank you for all of you who have stuck with this story for so long. <strong>I want you all to know how much it means to me that you have taken time to read and review and add my story to your favourites. There are no words grand enough to describe how much it all means to me. But as I said before, the first (and unfortunately rather short) chapter of the sequel is already there. And to repeat again it is called: **Frozen Hearts and Flames of Love. **For all of those who choose to read the sequel: I look forward to sharing the story with you. And for those of you who wish to pretend that the story ends here: I thank you and hope you have enjoyed my work.


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